Lassiter and Shawn have a shoot out
by islashlove
Summary: Lassiter finds out that Shawn can use a gun, but has not fired one for ten years. Using this information he dares Shawn to a shoot off. He wins Shawn has to tell everyone the truth about himself. This is going to be Slash
1. The dare

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own anything that is from Psych. **

**Beta:**** Yes and thank you to jerseybelle for all your hard work.**

**Warning:**** This is a slash story which means same sex relationships. If you don't like it, don't read it**

**Author's Notes:**** Shawn finds out that Lassiter and O'Hara are competing in the police games. He then meets them at the shooting range, and Lassiter dares Shawn to have a shoot out.**

**Lassiter and Shawn have a Shootout** **By islashlove**

**Chapter 1:**** The Dare**

Shawn and Gus enter the station. Gus was looking forward to seeing Juliet and Shawn was looking to annoy Lassiter. Neither Detective was at their desk but Shawn noticed that the Chief was in her office. He headed over to see if there was anything he could help with.

"Good morning, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Guster and how may I help you today?"

"It's not what you can do for us, but what we could do for you," replied Shawn.

"We noticed that O'Hara and Lassiter were not at their desks and wondered if there was anything we can help you with, Chief Vick." add Gus.

"Actually, we're having a slow time at the moment. I guess the crooks are all on holiday. As for my Detectives, they are at the firing range getting in some practice shots, as they are representing this station at the Police Games that are coming up soon."

"But I thought your firing range was out of action due to the renovations being done," queried Shawn

"It is. We have acquired a contract with the private shooting club over in Hope Street. Is that all, Mr. Spencer?"

"Yes Chief."

"Then good day to you both." And with that she escorted them out of her office and shut the door.

"The Police Games, isn't that the one you took out the champion when you were nineteen or something?" Gus asked Shawn.

"Yeah it is, I got the top score and as far as I know no one has beaten it yet. Not even Dad knows I got it as I used a fake name."

"What was it again?"

"I was Mr. Pine Apple. Back then civilians were allowed to enter against the police. But because I beat their best, they stopped it. What a shame."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Let's go down to the firing range and see the Detectives." Gus agreed with the suggestion and they left the police station.

As they arrived at the range, so did Shawn's dad.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"I come here to keep up with my shooting, and yourselves?"

"We're here to see Lassie and Jules. They're here practicing for the Police Games."

"Do they know you're coming?"

"No!"

Henry lowered his head and shook it. "You're looking for trouble aren't you, Shawn?"

"No, I'm here to support my fellow officers. That's all" Shawn said with a mischief look in his eye.

"Shawn, don't do anything wrong here, ok. I've been a member of this club for a very long time and I'm not having you ruin it in one day."

"Dad..."

"No, Shawn, I mean it."

"Ok, whatever you say."

And with that they entered the club. Shawn quickly looked around and spotted Lassiter over near the long range practice area. Walking over, he had a very wide smile on his face. He could see the target Lassiter was holding up and it looked like a near perfect score.

"I bet you shoot just as well in bed as you do here on the range."

Lassiter let out a long groan. "Spencer, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here with my Dad, and you?"

"I'm here practicing."

"You don't look like you need practice to me."

Shawn had taken the target and was holding it up to the light. Just then Henry and Gus, along with Jules walked up. Henry handed Shawn a gun, which surprised both Detectives. Shawn took the gun in hand by the tips of his fingers. He screwed up his face while looking at it.

"Dad, what's this?"

"It's a gun, Shawn."

"Yeah, I know that, but why did you give it to me?"

"Well, since you're here, I guess that you and I could fire off a few rounds together. I'm guessing it's been a while since you fired a gun."

"Yeah, Dad, It's been about seven years! But you also know how I feel about guns."

"Yes, I do, that's why I know you won't shot yourself."

"Ok, but I'm warning you, I'm a bit rusty."

"Well, let's get to it."

"Just a minute, Spencer,"

"Yes, Lassie, what can I do for you?"

"I bet you, I can beat you in a shootout."

"A bet" Shawn said shaking his head. "Sorry Lassie, I don't gamble."

"Ok, a dare then."

"A dare, hmm. Alright then, what's the dare?"

At the mention of a dare, Shawn's eyes started to shine. He was not lying about gambling. Since his dad caught him gambling with his follow the officer's when he was a kid, he promised his dad he would never gamble for anything. But dares were different, dares weren't for money, they were for fun.

"If I can out shot you in a set of five rounds, you are to tell the truth about your psychic abilities."

"And if I win...?"

"What do you want?"

"Dinner," Shawn said with a great big grin on his face.

"Dinner, Spencer?" Lassiter replied with his eye brow raised

"For one week you have to buy me dinner at any place I choose that night and you have to eat with me."

Lassiter stopped and thought about this for a moment. Nodding his head in agreement, the dare was sealed. If only Lassiter had looked down at Shawn's hand before agreeing. He would have seen that the gun was sitting in Shawn's hand perfectly. He was also turning the safety switch off and on like a pro. Henry let out a groan and Gus put his hand over his head. Shawn had the biggest smile on his face that Lassiter had ever seen and then the doubt started to set in, but he shook it off.

"I'll give you till tomorrow to get in some practice. Then after our little shoot off, I will arrest you as you confess to being a fraud. Until then, Spencer," Lassiter said as he set the safety switch on his gun.

With that Lassiter left. As he was leaving he looked up at the leader board that listed the highest scores made at this club. He noticed that the top score was held by a one S. Spencer.

Looking around, he found the manager and asked, "Who is S. Spencer?"

"Oh, that's Shawn. That's him, over there!" His finger was pointed at Shawn.

"When did he get this score?"

"Oh, about seven years ago, I think. Could be longer, it could've been less," replied the manager.

"Well, he did say to Henry that he hadn't fired a gun for at least seven years. So he's out of practice. No worries," Lassiter mumbled to himself.

The next day Jules dropped into the Psych office. Sitting there was Shawn, Henry and Gus. They were talking about where Shawn was going to get Lassiter to take him for dinner.

"Oh, hi, Jules" Shawn said when he noticed her standing in the door way.

"Hi, everyone, I heard you picking out restaurants, but not to be a downer, but there is a chance that Lassiter could beat you, you know."

"I'm sorry, Juliet, but Shawn is a crack shot." Henry said.

"What do you mean...?"

Her question was cut off as she watched Shawn disassemble and then reassemble the gun lying in front of him. As impressive this was, the fact that Shawn never looked down at it while he was doing this, made it more impressive.

"Carlton is in real trouble, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is," Gus replied.

"Right, it's time, let's get going." Shawn said as he stood up, and picked up the gun. Shawn placed it into a gun holster that was around his waist. He then headed for the door. He turned to make sure the others were following him. "Well, let's go."

Lassiter had gotten to the range early so he could fire off a few practises rounds. He found himself a lot calmer than he thought he would be. He knew that Shawn was a fake and today he would prove it. Every time he pulled the trigger he could hear Shawn's confession and each time the smile on his face grew.

"You know that smile should be illegal it's so x-rated. What are you thing about Lassie?" Shawn playfully teased.

Lassiter's face quickly returned to normal, at least as normal as Lassiter's face could be.

"About time you got here. I was starting to think you were chickening out."

"No way Lassie, I've already picked out the place for tonight's dinner. A very romantic setting..."

"Are we shooting today or not?" Lassiter's voice came floating through Shawn's train of thought.

"Just one minute there," came a new voice.

It was Chief Vick and she was heading straight to them.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Just a friendly shooting competition, that's all" Henry answered

"Detective Lassiter, can I remind you that police officer's are not to get involved in civilian competitions, the same as they are not to be involved with ours."

"Technically I work for the police department so... I'm not a civilian and that means we're not doing anything wrong."

The Chief just stared at him for a moment. She then nodded her head.

"Well, I'm staying then."

"The more the better," Shawn added.

"Who's first?" Gus asked.

"Spencer can decide. You want to go first or me."

Shawn sat there thinking.

"I think you can go first."

Alright, the closest to the bull's eye wins. Each time, the target will move back further. We get three shots each round. You understand?"

"Got it, let's play ball."

Lassiter set himself up for his first shot. All of his shots were just off the centre of the target. Shawn matched not only the spacing, but dead on with Lassiter's. This went on for the next three sets as well.

"Right at the moment you are tied. These are the winning shots," Gus informed everybody. Lassiter has never fired at a target this far away before and, he had checked, nether had Shawn, at lease at this club. He lined up his shots and was about to pull the trigger when Shawn suddenly put his hand in front of his eyes.

"Spencer, what the Hell...'

"Sorry Lassie, but a little boy just walked behind the target and I didn't want you to shot him."

"Really, Spencer..?"

Suddenly a small child of about five came out from behind the target. He saw the group at the end of the range and walked up to them. Just as he did his frantic mother ran up and pulled the boy into her arms.

"Oh, thank you for finding him. I was so worried that something might have happened to him."

"If you're that worried, why did you bring him to a gun club?" growled Lassiter.

"I didn't, his father did and when I found out I came straight down here to get him." With that she got up and walked away.

"Are you going to take your shot or not?" Shawn asked

"Yes, I am, Spencer." He returned to the line to take his shot. When the target was brought in Lassiter was impressed with himself. One bulls eye and the other two just on the line of the bull's eye.

"Your turn, Spencer" Lassiter purred.

Shawn had gotten bored with the whole thing by now and decided to liven things up. Standing like an old cowboy, he took his first shot. The next one he held the gun upside down. Henry just sat there shaking his head and Gus was catching flies with his mouth opened. Lassiter, Jules and the Chief just stared at him.

"Shawn... this is a competition, not a sideshow, so behave please," Henry instructed.

"Ok, Dad," he said aloud, then under his breath he added, "spoil sport," and smiled.

With that Shawn looked over his shoulder, turned back towards the group and then just turned and fired.

"Ok, done."

As his target was being brought in he turned towards Lassiter.

"So this first place we're going to. You'll be alright as you need to wear a suit there."

"Just a minute, you may not have won!"

"Sorry, Detective, but he did." Chief Vick said as she handed him the target.

"Pick me up at six," Shawn shouted as he walked away.

Lassiter watched him leave. Gus had caught up with him and they were walking out the door. Lassiter looked back at the target and saw three neatly placed bull's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Lassiter, I'm really am. If I had a chance, I would have warned you."

"What? That your son is a crack shot. What could you have said differently to make me think that your son could beat me?"

"That's easy. When Shawn was nineteen, he used a fake name and competed in the police games. In fact it's his score that stopped civilians from being able to compete in them."

"Wait... He's..."

"That's right. He was Mr. Pine Apple."

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	2. The first dinner

**Chapter 2:**** The First Dinner**

_'So this first place we're going to. You'll be alright as you are, as you need to wear a suit there.'_

Ever since that morning, when Spencer had humiliated him at the shoot off, all Lassiter could hear were those words that echoed around and around in his mind. Why the hell did he dare Spencer, why? Why did he think this was going to be any different than all the other times he tried to get rid of Spencer? They had all failed, so why not this one, too.

Why hasn't he given up trying to get rid of Spencer? It was simple, or it should have been. He just needed to get rid of him. He needed to get that annoying, pain in the butt, good looking and handsome man away from him. He need to put space between them and then maybe, just maybe, the dreams he had of Shawn and the way they affected his body would go away, too. The only problem was, Lassiter was getting used to having Spencer around and he was starting to enjoy the feelings he gave him.

The only thing he really hated was the fact when he went home by himself, and woke up after having those dreams, and that's when that feeling of loneliness would set in and the knowledge that Spencer would never want him that way. He would end up crying himself to sleep. He couldn't believe how this man could bring him to his knees without even trying and he knew spending the next seven evenings with him was only going to make it worse.

Looking at his watch he saw it was five forty five and he had to pick up Spencer at six. As he drove to Spencer's place he started to wonder just when did Spencer moved up the street from him. Pulling up, he saw Shawn on the footpath and seeing Shawn in a suit did nothing to calm his worries. Shawn climbed in and gave Lassiter a smile.

"You're right on time Lassie. So, I was thinking that you can choose where we go tonight."

"You won the dare, not me!"

"Yeah, but you lost and, well, I didn't really have anywhere planned for tonight."

"You didn't? Well, considering how we're dressed, I guess I know a place."

As they pulled up, Shawn was surprise at their destination. He knew of this place and that it was a restaurant and night club in the same building, and it also had an Irish theme. He assumed that Lassiter must come here often, as the staff knew him by sight. As they were seated, Lassiter let out a low groan.

"What's wrong, Lassie?"

"Victoria."

"Really, where...?"

Shawn looked around and saw a woman heading their way.

"Does she come here often?"

"I don't know. It's the first time I've seen her here."

Shawn turned back to Lassiter. It hurt him to see the detective in pain like this, although he'd never say so. But tonight Lassiter didn't look like he was upset to see his ex, just frustrated.

"Hello, Carlton."

"Hello, Victoria. Victoria this is Shawn Spencer, one of the stations consultants."

"Hello, Mr. Spencer, nice to meet you!"

"Thank you and nice to meet you, too" Shawn said with a small smile.

Shawn gave Victoria a quick glance and wondered what Lassiter saw in her. Victoria was a tall, thin woman with long black hair that had a few grey strands showing. He wouldn't have called her pretty, in fact to him, she looked rather plain.

"Well, Carlton, I'm glad you've started to move on with your life."

"Yes I have... No wait, I'm only here with him because I lost a dare."

"Oh?" she said, looking back and forth between the two men. "Well then, good evening Mr. Spencer! And once again, it was very nice to meet you!"

"Good evening and likewise."

Shawn watched Victoria leave and when he turned back to Lassiter he was surprised to see Lassiter watching him with a strange look on his face.

"Sorry about that, Spencer."

"Sorry for what?"

Shawn was very confused at Lassiter's behaviour.

"Didn't you hear what she said?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to with this?"

"Don't worry, I... I just misunderstood, sorry."

They ate their meal in silence. Shawn watched Lassiter the whole time but he couldn't work out why the detective was acting so strange.

After Lassiter dropped him off, Shawn sat down on the couch and went through his mind one bit at a time, to see what he had missed.

"_Well, Carlton, I'm glad you've started to move on with your life."_

"_Yes, I have... No wait, I'm only here with him because I lost a dare."_

"_Oh? Well, then, good evening Mr. Spencer and once again, it was very nice to meet you!"_

"I don't get it, what did she say to make Lassie react the way he did?" Shawn mumbled to himself.

"She only said...and the way she looked at us, oh, my god, could that be it? Was she saying what I think she was saying? Does Lassie like me, could that possibly be it?" Shawn said, as he kept running the evenings events over and over in his mind.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	3. Night time dreaming

**Chapter 3:**** Night Time Dreaming**

Shawn was sitting in the restaurant across from Lassiter. It was the same restaurant which Lassiter had taken them to the first night after the dare. Lassiter looked as handsome as ever and he actually had a smile on his face. Victoria walked up to them, but she wasn't smiling. In fact she had tears running down her face as she turned to Shawn.

"I wanted him back, and you took him away. It's not fair."

"You threw Lassie away like he was just rubbish, and then expected him to just wait for you to come back to him. How dare you? When I found Carlton, he was heartbroken and he was about to crash and burn. I helped repair the damage you did to him and gave him back his life, and now you want him back again. I don't think so, lady; he's mine now. I love him and I know he loves me too."

Victoria just stood there staring at him, mouth wide open.

"But...! But...! But...!"

"There are no buts about it, Victoria. If I have to choose between you and Shawn, Shawn wins hands down. He has shown me love doesn't have to hurt and you don't have to fight for it every step of the way." 

"Carlton, please... think of us and what we had." 

"I did, and there is no way I'm going back to that life. Goodbye, Victoria."

With that, Lassiter turned around and placed a kiss on Shawn's lips. The tension and pressure that Lassiter applied started to turn Shawn on, and he wrapped his arms around Lassiter's waist and pulled him closer. The next thing he felt was them falling, falling onto a soft bed.

"I'm going to make love to you forever," Lassiter whispered, just before he kissed Shawn again.

Shawn sat upright in his bed; he shivered as the cold sweat ran down his body. Looking over to the other side of the bed and seeing it empty, he realised that it was just another dream.

Shawn had spent the whole night tossing and turning as the scene of that night echoed around in his mind. What could have Victoria have meant by _'I'm glad you've started to move on with your life'_ and Lassie response _'Yes I have... No wait, I'm only here with him because I lost a dare'_. And if it wasn't this keeping him awake, it was dreams like that one that kept waking him up.

What does it all mean? Was Victoria indicating that they were on a date? And if that was the case, did it mean that Lassiter was 'bi' and what did that mean for him and Lassie. Shawn had always known he was bi, after all how many men fall for their best friend, like he did for Gus. But Lassie! Even if he was bi, he hated Shawn and he did correct Victoria as quickly as he could, to say he was there only because of a dare.

Shawn wondered if he could be reading this all wrong, just because he has feelings for Lassiter. He knew he had fallen hard for the handsome Irish detective, why else was he still here? He loved the way the detective pushed him around and up against things, even if it was to get him out of his way or to try and get something through his thick head. Lassie intrigued him and no one has ever done that to him. Sure, he's been curious about other people, but only the detective had caught his attention and he hasn't been able to walk away from it.

And the dreams...! Oh god, the dreams! How he longed for them to be real, to truly feel the rough hands of Lassiter, gently and softly move across his bare skin. Too feel those tender, but never smiling lips on his.

"Oh, Carlton!" Shawn cried out as he released his desire, as the images of the dream filled his mind again. Afterwards he looked at the clock and since it was six in the morning he decided to get up and get ready for the day. While in the shower Shawn decided that he would try and find out what Victoria meant and if there was the slightest chance for him to be with Lassie.

**Same night at Lassiter's place **

Lassiter stayed up all night, thinking. How did Shawn not hear what Victoria had said, he just didn't understand. Her words were straight forward '_I'm glad you've started to move on with your life'. _God he felt like a fool, he was so sure Shawn would have gotten what she had said about him 'moving on'. But he didn't, and Lassiter nearly put his foot in it. Nearly gave away how he truly felt about the fake psychic.

He wondered what Shawn had really thought about the night. For Lassiter it was wonderful. Shawn looked gorgeous in his suit and Lassiter could feel the lust inside of him rising, and it took all the strength he had to keep himself in check and not to grab Shawn and kiss the living daylights out of him, let alone throw him on to a bed and...

Lassiter lost his fight not to go to sleep about four in the morning.

Lassiter was sitting in the same restaurant across from Shawn, the same one he had taken them both to on that first night, after the dare. Shawn was more beautiful than before and the smile on his face was for Lassiter and Lassiter only. Victoria had walked up to them, but she wasn't smiling at them, In fact she had tears running down her face, she turned towards Lassiter.

"I wanted you back, you can't be with him. It's not fair."

To Lassiter's surprise, Shawn got up and faced Victoria.

"You threw Lassie away like he was no more than rubbish, and then expected him to just wait for you to come back to him. How dare you. When I found Lassie, he was heartbroken and he was about to crash and burn. I helped repair the damage you did to him and gave him back his life, and now you want him back again. I don't think so, lady, he's mine now. I love him and I know he loves me too."

Victoria just stood there staring at Shawn, mouth wide open.

"But...! But...! But..."

"There are no buts about it, Victoria. If I have to choose between you and Shawn, Shawn wins hands down. He has shown me that love doesn't have to hurt and you don't have to fight for it, every step of the way." 

"Carlton, please... think of us and what we had." 

"I did Victoria and I realised it was killing me, slowly but surely, killing me and there is no way I'm going back to that life. Goodbye, Victoria."

With that, Lassiter turned around and grabbed Shawn by the shirt and pushed their lips together. The hunger and need for Shawn turned him on and the fact that Shawn was kissing him back made that lust grow. The next thing he felt was them falling, falling onto a soft bed.

"I'm going to make love to you forever," Lassiter whispered, just before he kissed Shawn again.

Lassiter bolted upright in the chair he was sitting in; he shivered as the cold sweat ran down his body. Looking down at the result of the dream he sighed and headed for the shower.

"Oh, Shawn!" Lassiter cried out as the images of the dream filled his mind again and he released his desire. After getting ready for the day, Lassiter decided that he would try and use these 'dare dates' to find out if there might be a chance for him and Shawn to be together.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	4. Interesting fact and friends to help

**Chapter 4****: Interesting fact and friends to help**

After his... relaxing shower, Lassiter got dress and headed off to work. He had a lot on his mind, and surprised himself when he seemed to arrive at the station in no time. As he went bounding up the stairs, officer's in the station stopped and stared at him. Then they started to whisper amongst themselves.

By the time he had reached his desk, just about everyone was whispering and pointing at him. Lassiter, himself, didn't seem to notice the commotion, until he sat down and McNab brought him his coffee.

"Excuse me, Detective Lassiter, but is there something wrong?"

Lassiter looked at McNab with confusion in his eyes.

"Wrong, what do you mean, McNab?"

"Well..."

"McNab"

"Well, you came bounding up the stairs with a... a smile on your face."

"I did?" Lassiter said with an even bigger smile.

"Umm, Yes, Sir, you did."

Lassiter then heard the whispers and as he looked around he could see everyone looking at him. Standing up, he placed his hands onto his desk, leaned forward and forced the smile from his face.

"Is there a problem here?"

The smile quickly returned to his face, as he watched the officer's all take off in different directions. As he sat back down in his chair, he noticed that McNab was still standing there. A close inspection of McNab's face showed Lassiter that he was really worried about him.

"McNab, I'm ok. I was just thinking about something that made me happy."

"So you've gotten yourself a new gun then?"

"What? Oh no, no, it's something else I like."

"Ok, goodbye, Detective." McNab made his way back to the front desk. As Lassiter watched him go, the one who put the smile on his face, walked in. Immediately, the smile faded and the normal scowl returned.

"So, before Shawn gets here, how was last night?" Lassiter turned to see O'Hara standing next to him. He looked back at Shawn before he answered.

"It was... Interesting..."

"Interesting? So where did you go?"

"The Royal, and before you ask I decided where we went, not Shawn."

"I thought you had to go where Shawn had chosen?"

"We were, but when I picked him up, he didn't have any place picked and he told me to go ahead and pick the place."

A smile once again formed on his face as he watched Shawn and Gus have one of their banters, most likely about the same conversation he and O'Hara were having.

"You actually liked it, didn't you?"

"Yes. Wait, no I didn't. My ex was there."

"Victoria was? But you actually enjoyed yourself with Shawn, didn't you?"

Lassiter turned to Jules to say something, anything to her, but didn't get the chance.

"Don't you lie to me, Lassiter. You enjoyed yourself, didn't you?"

Lassiter turned back to look at the topic of their conversation. By this time Shawn and Gus had finished their discussion and they had started to walk toward them.

"Yes! Yes, I did enjoy myself. But if you tell anyone I'll..."

"Your secret is safe with me, but we need to talk about this later, ok? Hi, Shawn... Gus!"

"Hi, Jules, Lassie" came the usual reply from Shawn.

"Hi, Juliet, Detective Lassiter" Gus also added.

"So, have you any jobs for us today?" Shawn asked as he bounced back and forth on his feet.

Before Jules could say anything Lassiter barked. "No we don't, and Shawn what are you, a five year old, sit still."

"But I'm not sitting down, don't you mean stand still?"

"Shawn!" groaned Gus, as he rolled his eyes.

Lassiter stood up and leaned forward until his and Shawn's faces nearly touched.

"Spencer, you have no need to be here, so go away!"

Shawn was looking Lassiter straight in the eyes as he said this, but Shawn didn't see anger there. Instead he saw tiredness. He wondered why Lassiter so tired as they didn't stay out very late last night. Because of what he saw, and also what he wanted to do today, Shawn decide not to annoy Lassiter for long!

"I, we just came in to see if there was anything for us to do and to let you know to wear some casual clothing tonight."

And as a last minute thought, Shawn kissed Lassiter on the cheek. Before Lassiter could react, Shawn had grabbed Gus' hand and bolted out of the station. Lassiter could do nothing; his mind had gone blank from the feel of Shawn's lips on his skin.

"Lassiter!" Jules said sharply. When her partner still didn't respond, she called out, "Carlton!"

Lassiter turned to Jules who was evidently talking to him. But he could hear nothing except the words that were echoing around in his head.

_'Shawn kissed me, he really kissed me. Maybe he does like me. Oh, god, I hope so.'_

Jules was starting to worry as Lassiter's eyes glazed over. She took him by the arm, but when he would not move, she got McNab to give her a hand to move him into an empty interview room. They sat him down, and Jules put a chair in front of him and sat down. Looking into his eye Jules could see that Lassiter was sick. Not sick, sick, but love sick and Shawn had just made it worse.

"Lassiter, come on. Carlton, snap out of it." Jules then slapped Lassiter across the face. This definitely snapped Lassiter out of his trance.

"What the hell do you think you're doing O'Hara?" Lassiter snapped.

"You were...You were drooling all over the place after Shawn kissed you. I had to do something to get your attention."

"I, I was not! Was I?"

"Yes, you were!"

"Oh, god, I've got it so bad for Spencer. O'Hara, I need help!"

"Help in what way?"

As she said this her eyes had wandered over to McNab who was standing nearby. Lassiter looked over to where Jules was looking, and when he saw McNab he let out a quiet groan.

"How long have you been standing there, McNab?"

"I helped Detective O'Hara bring you in here. But don't worry, I already worked out you liked Shawn."

"Really...? What made you think that? Not that you are wrong, just what in the world gave you the impression I liked him?"

"The way you act around him. I mean, even though he annoys the hell out of you, you still put up with it. So you have to at least like him, at some level."

"Well, can you two help me?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Juliet asked.

"I need to find out how Shawn really feels about me, and if he's ever dated a man before?"

"You mean is Shawn gay or bi?"

"Yes McNab, I'm bi and I've know it since I was twelve. But Shawn, I don't know about him?"

"He's bi!"

"What?"

Both Detectives had surprised looks on their faces when McNab answered Lassiter's question.

McNab saw the look of surprise and explained his answer. "I was talking to Shawn the other day, and I asked him straight out if he was gay. He said no, but that he was bi. I found, that if you ask Shawn something straight out, he'll give you a straight answer."

"So he's bi, is he?"

Lassiter had said this more to himself than to McNab or O'Hara. The thought had sent his heart aflutter and the smile was back on his face, not to mention the hard on he was getting. Suddenly the door of the room swung open and Chief Vick was standing there.

"Is there a reason my Detectives are hiding in here?"

They all looked at each other and then replied together. "No, Chief."

"Then get back to work, please!"

And, with those words, the three headed back to work. But Lassiter had his thoughts focused on the night to come and he slowly started to come up with a plan to win Shawn Spencer's heart. Because of these thought's Lassiter wore the smile all day long, which kept most people away from him.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	5. Lassiter gets ready for the date

**Chapter 5:**** Lassiter Gets Ready for the Date.**

Around five o'clock, Lassiter approached O'Hara's desk. He had worked out how to win Spencer's heart, but he really needed both O'Hara's and McNab's help to put it into play. O'Hara looked up at him, and a small shiver ran down her back at the fact he was still smiling.

"Can I help you, Carlton?"

"I sure hope so. This morning Shawn said to wear casual clothes," Lassiter said with a quiet voice that had a hint of embarrassment in it as well.

"So?" Jules said not too sure where this was going.

"I, I don't have any. I only have my suits," Lassiter said and this time the embarrassment was truly evident.

"Really, Carlton, I thought you would have some type of casual clothes for when you're at home."

"No I don't. I just wear my suits in case I get called out to a job; otherwise I'm just in my sleep wear."

"Okaaay," she said, not sure where this was going. "So how can I help?"

"Can you," Lassiter stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "Can you help me buy some?"

"Me, are you sure you want me to help you, why not McNab?"

"This in embarrassing enough as it is, without McNab knowing as well. Any way, you seem to know what Shawn likes."

"Carlton, if you want a real relationship with Shawn, changing yourself into what you think he wants won't work. He needs to fall for how you are, not for how you think he wants. But with that said, yes, I'll go shopping with you. What time are you to pick him up?"

"Six."

"Carlton, that is just over an hour away."

"I know; that's why we need to go now."

"Man, you really do have it bad for him."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're leaving work early to go shopping for tonight. That's why."

Lassiter walked back to his desk to get his coat while O'Hara did the same. They were walking to the door when Chief Vick came out of her office.

"And where do you two think you're going?" she said with her arms crossed if front of her.

The two Detectives turned to face their Chief. Juliet leaned over to Lassiter and whispered to him, "You go ahead, I'll get this."

Lassiter gave her a curious look.

"I'll be right there and meet you at the car in a minute. Go on"

Lassiter looked at the Chief again, back at Jules and then shrugged his shoulders and walked out. Juliet watched him leave before she walked over to the Chief.

"Where is Detective Lassiter going?" Chief Vick asked her.

"He's going out to wait for me at the car. Can we talk in private please?"

Chief Vick looked toward the exit and then back at Jules. There was a look of pleading in her eyes that the Chief couldn't define.

"Ok, in my office and it better be good."

Juliet waited quietly while the Chief closed the door, and then took her seat. The Chief looked up at Juliet and nodded for her to start.

"Ok, Chief; you know how Lassiter has to take Shawn out on these dinners for the rest of the week."

"Yes."

"Well, Shawn told Lassiter tonight he needed to wear casual clothes."

"So," the Chief said shaking her head.

"So, Lassiter just told me he doesn't own any. We were just going out to get him some, and it is nearly time to go home, anyway."

"That's fine." O'Hara smiled and turned to leave just as the Chief continued. "What else aren't you telling me, O'Hara?"

"Chief..."

"No, what else is there to this story, and what did it have with you two and McNab being in the interview room this morning?"

"Ok, but he's going to kill me," Juliet said as she looked at the floor. "Carlton is in love with Shawn and he wants to use these dinners to win Shawn over."

Juliet looked up to see the chief smiling at her.

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's about time one of those two made a move. So what has he got planned?"

"I don't know, he only told me this morning and we really haven't had a chance to talk yet. You're not upset with this?"

"Not at all, I figured something like this was going between them, but neither of them wanted to make the first move. Who else knows?"

"Me, McNab and now you Chief" Juliet said, and then she asked, why do you want to know?"

"Well here is a tip. When Shawn is the only one in ear shot, you and McNab talk casually about Lassiter liking someone, but don't leave out that it's a man, of course.. Even drop a hint to Shawn, himself"

"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you, Chief."

"You're welcome, O'Hara. You better get going; there isn't too much time left."

"Ok, Chief. Bye."

As Juliet walked out of the station she could see Lassiter leaning up against the car talking to McNab. Lassiter saw her out of the corner of his eye and gave her a glare of annoyance. Walking up to them, she could over hear their conversation.

"I'm sure O'Hara wouldn't tell the Chief, Sir."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough."

"I didn't tell the Chief, she already knew what was going on."

"What?" Lassiter exclaimed as he pushed himself off the car.

"She already knew, in fact she's been wondering when you or Shawn were going to make the first move. Look, we have to get going or we're not going to get you anything to wear."

As Lassiter got into the car Jules turned to McNab

"When I get back, you and I need to talk."

"Yes, Detective O'Hara," the officer said.

With that Jules got into the car and McNab went back into the station.

They were both quiet on the drive to the shop, but the moment they pulled up, Juliet could see Lassiter tense up.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, I need to do this. It's, It's just I've never warn casual clothes before."

"Never Lassiter" Juliet enquired

"Never, my mother always dressed me in suits. Even when I've gone undercover, I've always had jobs where I had to wear a suit."

"Then this is a first for you." Lassiter just nodded. "Well, let's get going."

They got out of the car and entered the store. Looking around, Juliet spied what she was looking for. She grabbed Lassiter's arm and dragged him over to the racks of clothing. After about half an hour later they had finely settled on a look.

As Lassiter looked at himself in the mirror, Jules could see his reflection. He had a confused look on his face as if he knew it was him, but at the same time he was looking at a different person.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I'm not sure," he look at her with fear in his eyes "What do you think and do you think Spencer will like it?"

"It looks great and, of course, Shawn will like it."

Lassiter looked back at the reflection in the mirror. There he stood, wearing a light blue T-shirt, coved by a white shirt that was unbuttoned and not tucked in. The blue jeans were tight, but not too tight, and finished off with white tennis shoes. In all he looked hot, and it wasn't something he couldn't deny.

"Is the gentlemen happy with his decision?" the sales assistant asked.

"Yes, he is." Jules looked at her watch. "Lassiter, we better get going, you only have twenty minutes to pick him up."

"Right, let's go." Lassiter paid for the clothes and walked out of the store feeling like a different man.

"Lassiter, you get going, I'll call McNab to pick me up; and Carlton..."

"Yes?"

"Have fun."

"Thank you, Juliet."

Lassiter drove off and she took out her phone and rang McNab.

"McNab, can you pick me up please, we need to talk."

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	6. Shawn Gets Ready for the Date

**Chapter 6:**** Shawn Gets Ready for the Date.**

"Right, Shawn, where do you want to go to now?" Gus asked as they walked out of the station.

"Well, I've got a few things to do, but if you could drop me off at 333 Michael Drive that would be great."

"333 Michael Drive. Why there Shawn? You know that's the upper class area, right?"

"I've got something I need to do there, and please don't ask, Gus. I'll tell you later." He held up his hand with his pinkie extended. "Pinkie promise," he said.

Gus was a bit hurt at Shawn's being secretive, but he thought he would give him the benefit of doubt. He locked pinkies with his friend. "Pinkie promise," he said in return. On the drive there Gus tried to work out what Shawn would have to do in this part of town.

They stopped in front of a large estate, surrounded by a stone wall. "Ok, just give me a call when you need a lift back," Gus called to Shawn as he climbed out the car.

"Will do, Buddy, will do and, Gus, you want to grab some snacks for the office on your way there. I noticed we were out yesterday."

"Ok, Shawn, I will and bye." Gus pulled away from the gate still wondering what Shawn was up to.

Shawn watched Gus drive off, before he walked up to the big gates and pressed the communication button.

"Yes, can we help you?" A deep voice answered.

"Yes, I'm Shawn Spencer. I was wondering if Victoria Lassiter was here and if I could speak to her?"

"One moment, please, Sir."

Shawn looked through the gates while he waited. He could see that the estate was big and full of the usual stuff the rich seemed to think they needed. There were big grass areas, with statuettes of different shapes and sizes. In the middle of one there is a fountain shaped like a cherub pouring water from a bucket. He could also see a few large dogs walking around. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe how they keep their money when they wasted it all on these useless things. Suddenly the same deep voice came through the intercom.

"Mrs. Lassiter will see you, Sir. Please drive through when the gates open."

"Bit hard to do that, I'm on foot."

"Very well, Sir, a buggy will be sent down to get you. Please wait."

"Thank you." When the call ended, Shawn let out a laugh. In short order, the gate opened and Shawn walked through. Looking down the long driveway he could see a buggy coming his way. It stopped in front of him and a very large man climbed out. He gave Shawn the once over and when he was satisfied that he wasn't carrying anything, he pointed to the buggy. Shawn climbed in and so did the guard. The drive up to the house took several minutes but not one was spoken during the whole ordeal.

When they reached the house a butler walked out to meet them. "Mrs Lassiter is waiting for you in the library. Please follow me." And with that, the butler turned around and headed back into the house.

Shawn was too amused to say anything, so he just followed and took in all that he saw. The butler led him down a long hallway that had doors all the way down it. Hanging on the walls were paintings from various famous artists. Shawn could see that some of them were fakes, but he wasn't sure if the owners knew or not.

Just as they reached the end of the hallway, the butler turned to the left and opened the massive double doors that were there. As Shawn entered, he was surprised to actually find books in the room. He smiled when he noticed the book he had written about ten years ago sitting on the table. He looked around the room once again and that was when he saw Victoria sitting in an elegant wingback chair watching him. There was no noticeable expression on her face, the same way it was at the restaurant.

"Mr. Spencer, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mrs. Lassiter. Thank you for seeing me."

"You're welcome, please sit down."

Shawn sat down in the matching chair across from her, but he couldn't help the feeling that he was a fly and he had just walked into the spider's lair. Never the less, if he was going to get the information he was after, he knew he needed to find an edge; he had a feeling that his usual charm would not be enough this time.

"Would you like something to drink, Mr. Spencer?"

"Yes, thank you," Shawn said trying to use his best voice, but he knew he had fallen short.

"Would you like tea or a cold glass of pineapple juice?"

Although Victoria's face didn't change, Shawn could see the glint of a smile in her eyes. He gave her a smile back.

"Pineapple juice, please, I see you did your research on me?" This fact made Shawn a little nervous, as there are a lot of things about him that he would prefer to keep private.

"Yes, Mr. Spencer, I did. When I saw you at the restaurant with Carlton, you got me curious about a man who dares another to take him to dinner." The butler silently entered the room and was sent off to get the drinks.

"Actually, Mrs. Lassiter, he dared me."

"Really, and please call me Victoria."

"Ok Mrs Lassiter, but to be fair, only if you call me Shawn."

"Agreed, now, please explain this dare to me and what your interest in Carlton is."

"Ok, Lassie dared me to a shoot off."

"Lassie, don't you mean Carlton?"

"Yes, anyway if he won, I was to tell the truth about whether or not I am really psychic and if I won, I chose that he was to have dinner with me for a week. Oh, and he had to pay for it."

"I can understand you getting Carlton to pay for it, I mean, from what I understand about your relationship with him, you would have done that to upset him. But why did you want him to have dinner with you?"

"At first, I guess it was to upset him, but after last night and what you said, I got the feeling you thought we were on a date, and, I mean, Lassie isn't gay, is he?"

For the first time, Victoria's expression changed from the poker face she had been wearing, to a knowing smile. This sent a shiver down his spine. He was so transfixed on the change that he jumped when the butler placed his drink in front of him. He looked at him in surprise but when he looked back down at the table, there sat a charity pamphlet.

Now it was Shawn time to change his expression, and it quickly changed from shock to anger. This must have surprised Victoria as her expression also changed to worry. Shawn picked up his drink, took a mouth full and placed the glass back down. He crossed his legs and intertwined his fingers; laying them on his lap. He then leaned back into the chair. Fixing his eye with hers, he asked, with a very serious voice, "So, Victoria, how much is it going to cost me for the information I want?"

"What do mean Shawn?" she said with a twinkle of glee in her eyes.

Without breaking eye contact, Shawn leaned over and picked up the pamphlet and threw it onto her lap.

"So once again, how much?" this time the anger was in his voice.

"I see you don't muck around, Shawn." She paused for a moment. "I want three things."

"And they are?"

"The first is fifty thousand put into this charity. The second is; I want you to tell me why you live like a commoner when you are so rich?"

"And the last one is what, Victoria?"

"What do you want with Carlton?"

"Ok, the first one, that's fine, but not this charity."

"Why not, it's a registered, legitimate organization?"

"Because I have already dealt with it before, I don't get burned twice," Shawn snapped.

"Fine, Terry, please go and get the list of my other charities, you can choose the one you want, is that better?"

"Yes, it is, as for the second one, I will give you my answer when you tell me what I want to know and don't worry, whether it's what I want to hear or not, I will answer you."

Victoria sat there for a moment thinking this over. She then nodded her agreement.

Shawn nodded back at Victoria to let her know that the agreement was sealed.

"And as for the third one, I guess you know what my intention towards Carlton is, but you want me to actually say it don't you?"

"Yes."

"Very well, I like Carlton; actually I think I'm in love with him and I would like to date him. Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Yes, it is. Are you going to tell him the truth about yourself?"

"You mean am I going to tell him that I'm a multi billionaire. No, I'm not going to tell him that straight up; I want him to like me for me, not my money. But if things work out between us, well then, of course I will."

"Sounds valuated, what do you want to know about Carlton?"

"Is he gay?"

"No."

"Oh," Shawn said.

Victoria watched as disappointment formed on Shawn's face. She now knew what she wanted to know, so she decided to put him out of his misery.

"But he is bi, Shawn, and I'm sorry for doing that to you but no matter what you think of me, I still do care for him. I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to hurt him."

"Thank you for that, you could have just let me think there was no chance for me to be with him. As for your other question, I live like I do, so I don't end up like you."

"I'm sorry?" Victoria said, shocked at Shawn's answer.

"Look at your life. Yes, you have all the material things you could ever want but do you have love and I mean real love? I want someone, and hopefully it will be Carlton but I don't know yet, but I do know that I care deeply for him and that's why I live this way. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Shawn, I do and I wish you luck. Carlton, Carlton has a hard time getting close to people, so you might have trouble getting him to confess how he truly feels about you."

As Shawn got up to leave he passed Victoria the list of charities he was given by Terry.

"Thank you, Victoria, and goodbye."

"Terry, please arrange a lift back into town for Mr. Spencer."

"You don't have to do that," Shawn said with a big smile on his face.

"It is my pleasure, Shawn, and please, I would like it if you would stay in touch."

"I will, and thank you again for the information on Carlton."

"You're welcome, Shawn." She glanced at the list of charities. "Wait a minute... You have marked five charities, which one is it?"

"All of them. Fifty thousand dollars each made in your name, as we had agreed to."

"But I said..."

"I know what you said, but you have proven to me that you still care for Lassie. And in my book, that deserves to be rewarded. Good day, Victoria."

"Good day, Shawn."

With that Terry took Shawn to the front of the house to wait for the car. On the drive back into town, Shawn though about what he had learned about Lassiter and a plan started to form. He would set this plan into action starting tonight.

The car dropped Shawn off at the Psych office, and when he entered he found Gus sitting at his desk with his arms folded across his chest. By the look in Gus' eyes, he knew he was in big trouble.

"Hi, Gus, Buddy, Old Pal," Shawn said, trying not to sound nervous.

"Don't, Shawn," Gus said as he got up and walked over to Shawn. "Don't give me that buddy, old pal routine. I know, ok. I know that was Lassiter's ex's place. What the hell were you up to?"

"Gus I..."

"No, Shawn," Gus said with a fair amount of warning in his voice making Shawn sit up and listen. "Tell me what you were up to?"

"Ok," Shawn said with a sigh. "I went there to find out if Lassiter might be gay."

"You, what...?"

"I said..."

"I know what you said, Shawn, what I meant was, why?"

"Because I like him," Shawn said, while looking at the floor.

"You like him, for crying out loud Shawn, we all know his feelings towards you. And if the Chief ever lets him, he'll shoot you the first chance he gets."

"No he won't. Why is everyone so sure he'd do that? Well, I love him and I'm going to try to win him over."

"Shawn," Gus said shaking his head, "well, did she say he was gay?"

"No, she said he wasn't gay, but he is bi."

"So there is a chance then."

"Yes, and I'm going to try and use these dare 'Dates' to win his heart."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"Well, tonight, I had planned to go to Lento's."

"Lento's, isn't that the restaurant, that has the paint ball arena attached to it Shawn, why there?"

"Yes, the paint ball restaurant, well I thought we could have some pizza and a game. After all it does have guns and he will get to shoot me."

"Yes, he will definitely be able to shoot you, alright." Looking at his friend Gus decided to help him. "Ok, what do you need me to do?"

Shawn's smile grew even wider. "Thank you Gus, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, you can help me pick out some nice clothes to wear."

"Shawn, you will get them covered in paint."

"No I won't. Lento's gives you clothes to change into if you're playing, so I'll be alright but I want to dress to kill."

After two hours, Shawn had finely chosen what he was going to wear. Looking at himself in the mirror, he was very pleased with the way he looked.

"Well, Gus, what do you think?"

Gus just shook his head, there stood Shawn, in a pair of tight, and I mean T.I.G.H.T jeans, a pair of black dress shoes, and a nice plain green T-shirt. When he turned to show Gus, he noticed that Gus was blushing.

"Why are you blushing, Gus?" Shawn asked him, with a bit of laughter in his voice.

"You, you look amazing, Shawn, but..."

"But, but what Gus?" Shawn asked, looking a bit worried.

"But, well, do you really want Lassiter to know you like him that much?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, your fly's open."

Shawn looked down and seeing what Gus meant he quickly zipped himself up.

"Better?"

"Yeah, Shawn, much better and if you don't want to be late, you better get going."

Shawn looked at his watch, cursed under his breath, and bolted out the door, a bemused Gus sitting there staring at the doorway.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	7. The Forces Grow in Number's

**Chapter 7:**** The Forces Grow in Number's**

Lassiter was just driving past the Psych office when he spied Shawn coming out of the building, heading towards his bike. He pulled up beside him and reached over to open the passenger door. Because Shawn had his back to him, Lassiter couldn't help but notice how Shawn's jeans hugged his ass.

Swallowing hard to clear his throat, Lassiter called out. "You were going my way?"

Shawn turned quickly with surprise, to find the person he had been thinking about, was half leaning out his car door. Shawn quickly composed himself and threw on a great big smile.

"Lassie, how did you know I was here?"

"I was driving past, Spencer," Lassiter said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh," Shawn laughed. "So, you're picking me up from the street, nice."

"Spencer, get in."

Shawn did as he was told. Once he was in, he couldn't think of anything to say, so he just looked over at Lassiter. Lassiter was sitting there looking straight ahead, but Shawn did notice a pink tinge on the tips of his ears. Lassiter could feel Shawn's eyes on him and even though it felt strange, he liked the feeling it was giving him.

"So, Spencer, where are we going tonight?"

"Do you know of Lento's?"

"Yes, that's the restaurant with a paint ball arena attached to it."

"That's right; I've got us a table there."

"Really, I thought it was booked out all the time, you need to book at least two months in advance."

"Well, Lassie I am psychic, now aren't I?" Shawn fluttered his eye lids at Lassiter.

"No, you're not, and stop that with your eyes." Lassiter didn't really wanted Shawn to stop, but he knew if he didn't, he was going to jump Shawn right there.

"So, what time is our booking?"

"Six-thirty."

"So we better get going then," Lassiter said disappointment evident in his voice.

He was hoping to spend a little more time with Shawn before going to the restaurant. He couldn't work out why he was so disappointed though, it's not like he was driving up the road and dropping Shawn off; he was about to spend the evening with him.

Shawn had heard the disappointment in Lassiter's voice, but he took it to mean that Lassiter was disappointed that he was going to spend a lot more time with him, playing a stupid game of paint ball.

"Well, we better get this night over and done with," Shawn said with a bite to his words.

Lassiter gave Shawn a worried look, but he was looking out the window, trying to hide the tears that wanted to erupt. Lassiter wondered what had been said to put Shawn into a bad mood. Nothing seemed wrong so he started the car and drove off.

As they left, Gus came out of his hiding place and watched them go. He was trying to figure out what Shawn saw in Lassiter, but he would be happy for him if this worked out, but he wasn't holding his breath. He was also worried about what Shawn had to or has still to do, to get the information he wanted from Lassiter's ex. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the car pull up beside him.

"Gus."

Turning around to see who had called his name, he was surprised to see Juliet and McNab sitting in the car.

"Gus!" Jules called out.

Gus looked back toward Lassiter's car as the tail lights disappeared around the corner. He shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the car. Crouching down, he looked at two pairs of expectant eyes.

"Gus, get in," Jules said. "Quickly!"

Not sure what was going on, but not wanting to upset Jules, Gus did what he was told. After he had closed the door, McNab started to drive.

"Juliet, what's going on?"

"We're following Lassiter and Shawn."

"Why?"

"Because..." Juliet paused for a moment. She turned slightly in her seat to look at Gus and then started to talk again. "Gus, can I ask you a question?" as she said this, she had looked at McNab.

"One, Jules, you just did and two, yes, you can."

"Gus is Shawn, is Shawn..."

"Is Shawn, what Jules?"

"Is he..."

"The detective wants to know if Shawn is gay or at least bi," McNab said. He was frustrated that O'Hara hadn't believed him.

"Why?"

"Gus, can you please tell me," Juliet said, a bit frustrated herself.

"He's bi, now will you tell me, why do you want know?"

"Because Lassiter likes him and he asked us to help him find out if there was a chance for them."

Gus couldn't help it, he just busted into laughter. The two in the front seat just looked at each other.

"What's so funny, Gus?" Juliet asked.

"Shawn. Lassiter." He gasped through his fit of laughter

"What about them?"

"They're each trying to find out if the other likes them. I mean, Shawn saw Lassiter's ex today to find out some information."

"And, what did he find out?"

"That Lassiter is bi and he's planning on using these dare dates, to try and win him over."

"Lassiter is trying to do the same thing."

"Oh, god, I can see it now. Shawn saying something, to hint that he likes Lassiter and Lassiter taking it the wrong way and..."

"Detective Lassiter doing the same thing." added McNab.

"Oh, god, I'm so glad we're following them, then."

"Actually, I've lost them," McNab said.

"I know where they are, but I think we better leave them alone, at least tonight."

"Why?"

"Because they're going to Lento's and you won't get in there."

"Ok, well let's go and get something to eat and compare notes and ideas to get them together."

Anyone know a place, where we can go?" asked McNab

"Yeah, just around the corner is a nice diner, which Shawn and I use all the time."

McNab parked the car and they all climbed out and entered the diner. Finding the only unoccupied booth, they sat down and grabbed a menu that was standing between the napkin dispenser and sugar bowl. After the waitress came and took their orders, they began to talk.

"Well, we know Shawn likes Lassiter," Gus said, starting the discussion.

"And Lassiter likes Shawn," added McNab.

"So should we just sit them down and tell them the truth?" asked Jules.

"No, no, that won't work."

"Why, not, Gus. What's wrong with that idea?" Jules asked, a bit surprised that Gus would turn down a straight forward answer.

"Because, both Shawn and Lassiter are stubborn men, and if we just say it's so, do you think they'll believe us?"

"I guess not, but what do we do?"

"We could try what the Chief suggested."

"What was that?"

"Well, she suggested to us that when Shawn was in hearing range, for us to drop hints that Lassiter liked someone," Juliet explained

"And to include that it was a man, and in any way we could, that it was Shawn," McNab explained further.

"Sounds like a good idea. Well, that covers Shawn; what about Lassiter?" asked Gus

"Well, it's no good for us to do it and you can't do it with the Chief as, Lassiter already knows that the Chief knows," Jules answered.

"What about me?" a voice came from beside them.

Looking in the direction it came from, all three were shocked to see Henry Spencer sitting there reading a paper. Without looking up at them he spoke again.

"I said, what about me?"

"You want to help us get Shawn and Lassiter together, Mr. Spencer?" Gus finely managed to say.

"Yes, I'm tired of waiting for those two to realise how they feel about each other." Henry was now looking at them, waiting for their answer.

"Ok, then. Do you want to join us and help work out how to do this?" asked Jules.

"I think that's a good idea, Detective," and with that Henry moved tables and they spent the rest to the evening smoothing out the plan.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	8. The Night Starts on Rocky Ground

**Chapter 8:**** The Night Starts on Rocky Ground.**

Shawn climbed out of the car and looked over the roof at Lassiter. They had sat in total silence on the way to Lento's and Shawn wanted to hear Lassie's voice, even if he was yelling at him. Shawn was sure he had done something wrong; he had somehow upset the detective, he just wish he knew what.

Lassiter, on the other hand, was wondering the same thing. Had Shawn heard the disappointment in his voice and thought that he didn't want to be there or there was something else that he had done to upset the fake psychic. Whatever the reason was, Shawn had told him that they didn't need to go to dinner if he didn't want to and that hurt him. Climbing out of the car, he noticed Shawn watching him. He gave Shawn a smile and they headed in.

As normally, the place was packed. For some God known reason, a restaurant which was attached to a paintball arena, was very popular.

"I hope you booked, Spencer?"

Shawn let out a sigh as the voice hit his ears. By the sound of it, what had upset Lassie had left and he was back to normal.

"Yes, Lassie, I have a table booked."

"Good evening, sirs, how, may I help you?" the head waiter asked

"Table for two, under Spencer," Shawn said.

"Spencer, Spencer, Spencer, I'm sorry sir but I can't see your name on the booking list. Are you sure your booking was for..."

"Mr. Spencer!"

Turning around, they found the manger walking up to them. When he reached them, he addressed the head waiter.

"I will look after Mr. Spencer and his friend."

"Yes sir."

"Mr. Spencer, please follow me."

"Thank you, Mr. Kane"

The manger led them up onto the second floor and into one of the VIP booths. After they were seated, Mr. Kane handed them the menu. This surprised Lassiter as it had a different list of foods than the menu he was use to and it also had no prices listed.

Shawn looked at Lassiter and could see the worried look on his face. Looking back at the menu and realising what the problem was Shawn came up with an idea.

"Carlton."

Lassiter looked at Shawn showing surprise that Shawn had used his first name.

"Yes Spen...Shawn. What do you want?"

"I just need to talk to Mr. Kane for a moment, I'll be right back." Shawn gave Lassiter a little smile and got up to leave.

Lassiter watched Shawn, not sure what he was up to, but he knew in some way it was going to hurt his wallet. Shawn and the waiter walked away from the booth and then out of sight. Lassiter then returned to the menu. After choosing what looked like might be the cheapest item on the menu, he looked out over the restaurant.

It was a large, open room, filled with tables and chairs which were all occupied. At the far end was a large stage for entertainment. He could see three sets of stairs leading up to the second floor balcony, which went half way around the back wall so that the people sitting in them could easy see the stage. Overall, Lassiter could see that the layout was well designed.

Those who were going to use the paintball arena were lead to another room which was at the back of the stage. The arena itself was nearly the same size, if not bigger than the restaurant. It had a changing room and the actual game room had a maze to work through. As Lassiter thought about it, the more he was looking forward to getting in to the arena and taking on Spencer. He had now seen Spencer shoot a gun, so he guessed that he would be a real challenge in the game.

Meanwhile, outside, Shawn was talking to Mr. Kane in a low voice.

"Look, Mr. Kane, this meeting isn't the usual type I have here. Mr. Lassiter is to pay for it, but he hasn't much money, so I want you to do up a dummy bill, say for around $60 each."

"So, no more than $120, for the total bill, is that correct Mr. Spencer?"

"That's right and I'll pay the remainder tomorrow."

"Ok, Mr. Spencer, you are the owner after all," Mr. Kane said with a smile.

"Yeah, I am. I wish people would stop reminding me of that," Shawn said with a little laugh.

"I will send your waiter in soon."

"Thank you," Shawn called after him and went back to Lassiter.

When he entered the booth, he saw Lassiter looking out over the restaurant, with a dreamy look on his face. Shawn just stood there, watching and wondering what could have caught the loveable Carlton's attention.

"Are you thinking about the past, present or future, Carlton?"

"What?" asked Lassiter, as he was pulled from his thoughts by the question?

"I asked you what you were thinking about."

"Oh, sorry, I was just thing about getting you alone..."

Shawn's mind went wild with ideas of what Lassie wanted to do to him. His heart beat had increased at the thought that Lassie wanted to be alone with him.

"Spencer," Lassiter called and when he got no response he called a little louder. "SPENCER!"

"Lassie...?" Shawn said blinking.

"Are you ok? You seemed to have zoned out."

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said that I was thinking about getting you alone, in the arena, I mean we will be playing a game, won't we?"

"Oh," Shawn said. "Yeah, yeah I've booked a game, but we will be playing with about five other people."

Lassiter could hear disappointment in Shawn's voice and he couldn't help wonder what had caused it. A few moments ago, even though he was looking into space, Shawn seemed to look so happy, so what did he say to disappoint Shawn. But he decided not to push it, or at least not at the moment.

"So, we're going to be on a team, or what?" Lassiter watched Shawn sit down across from him.

"No, it's going to be a one on one game, everyone keeps telling me that you want to shoot me, so here's your chance," Shawn said with a bit of an edge to his voice.

"Spencer, Shawn," Lassiter let out a rough breath. "Yes, some days, I do feel like shooting you and..."

Lassiter was interrupted by the waiter coming in.

"Good evening, Sirs, are you ready to order?"

"Yes, thank you," Lassiter said, eyeing Shawn off.

After they had given their orders and the waiter left, an uncomfortable quiet fell between them. Shawn was the one to break the silences.

"Look, after tonight, I'll let you out of the dare."

"What do you mean, Spencer?"

"I mean, no more dates, you're free of your commitment to me."

"Why?"

"Because, because this was supposed to be fun, but I'm just hurting you and that wasn't what I was after."

Lassiter's heart started to beat a little faster. What was Spencer after from these dates?

"Shawn, I..."

Just then the waiter returned with their meals. After thanking him, and watching him leave, Lassiter tried again.

"Shawn, I don't want out of the dare. For the first time since we've known each other, we have really talked and gotten to know each other. I want to learn about you, if you'll let me."

"Really, you really want to know me?"

"Yes, why is that such a surprise?"

"Because, no one wants to know me, they only want something from me. So what is it?"

"What is what?"

"What do you want from me, Lassiter? Let's just save the, 'you want to be around me dance' and just tell what you want."

"You're full of it, Spencer. Do you really think I would do that?"

"You wouldn't be the first, trust me, so let's just eat our food and you can get into the arena to shoot me." Shawn's words were edged with anger.

As they ate, their minds were filled with thoughts at how this "date" had gone so bad. Shawn sat there fighting back the anger and tears that wanted to escape. He was angry at himself, at letting his heart rule his head again; for letting himself to have hoped he could find someone to love and for someone to love him; for him.

Lassiter on the other hand was trying to work out why Spencer was acting like he was. In fact, you would have thought that Shawn had asked him to marry him and he had said no. It was like he couldn't believe that anyone would want to be friends with him, that they only ever used Shawn, not really cared for him

Before they knew it they had both eaten and the waiter had returned. Placing the bill on the table, he packed up the table and excused himself, saying he will be back soon to finalise the payment.

Lassiter looked at the bill and was surprised at the overall amount. Thinking back to when they first entered, he wondered if the private talk Shawn had with the manager might have something to do with it being so low.

When the waiter returned Lassiter handed over his credit card. After paying, they were then taken down the back stairs to the arena and into the changing rooms. Picking out the game jump suits they were going to use, they went to change. Not one word was spoken between them; they only exchanged sideward glances every now and then.

Shawn emerged, wearing a pale green track suit and Lassiter had chosen a blue track suit. They both were also wearing protective goggles. They put in their clothes in the lockers and handed the keeper the keys; the keeper then handed them their guns.

"Do I need to go through the rules?" the keeper asked

"No," they replied together.

"Right then, you go through that door and you'll meet the other players. Your game should be starting in about fifteen minutes."

"Thank you," both men again said at the same time.

They walked through the side door and found a group of five other players looking at them.

"Hi, I'm Shawn," Shawn said, with a great big smile on his face.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	9. Death in the Arena

**Chapter 9:**** Death in the Arena**

Shawn gave the other's the once over. The first two he looked at had red hair, fair skin and freckles. He could easily tell they were brother and sister and most likely twins. A little closer look and he could tell that they were also tourists, most likely from Australia. By the way they huddled in the corner; Shawn knew that, even though this was a one on one game, these two were going to team up no matter what.

The next gentleman was a businessman. He could tell by the way he stood straight and the no non-sense expression on his face. He also knew that he was trying to hide the fact that he worked out. This was so evident by the fact he had chosen a jump suit that was too big for him.

The last two were a husband and wife duo and by the look of them, they were desperately trying to spice up the marriage. Although Shawn couldn't see how playing a one on one game of paint ball against each other was going to help.

The last thing he took notice of was the colours they were wearing. One of the twins was in green and the other in gold, the business man wore black and the husband and wife wore purple and pink, respectively.

The only other thing Shawn noticed was that he and Lassiter had been standing there for about five minutes and no one had spoken. He looked at Lassiter, who just shrugged his shoulders and then looked back at the other five. Lassiter did the same.

"I said hi, my name is Shawn and this is Carlton." Still, there no response. "Hello. Is anybody there?" Shawn said shaking his head.

Black suit was the first to finely speak. "I'm George."

"Please to meet you, George, anyone else?"

"We're Tom and Susie," the timid reply came from the twins in a definitely Australian accent.

"Well, Tom and Susie welcome to America and what part of Australia are you from?"

"How did you know we were from Australia?" asked Susie.

"I'm psychic," Shawn said with one of his biggest grins.

"Oh, no," groaned Lassiter

"You're a what? Isn't that cheating?"

"Spencer, why did you have to say that?" Lassiter said his voice full of frustration.

"Because she asked, that's why." Shawn then turned back to the last two players. "So, do you two have names, or what?"

"Yes, I'm Lucy and this is my husband Carl. He can't speak or hear, so please excuse him."

"Ok, well hi, Lucy and Carl," Shawn said and to Lassiter's surprise he also used sign language.

Carl then signed

"What did he say?" Lassiter asked.

"He said, hi and when does the game start," Shawn answered with a little laugh.

Just then the door opened and a little man walked in. He gave a quick glance over the group, his eyes falling onto Shawn. He then gave a small smile and looked at the chart he was carrying.

"When I call your names, please confirm you're here. Shawn and Carlton?"

"Here," they said together.

"George?"

"Here."

"Lucy and Carl?"

"Here," Lucy answered

The little man looked up and went to call Carl's name again, but Shawn interrupted him.

"He's here, he just can't talk."

"Ok. And last but not least, Tom and Susie?"

"We're here," they answered together.

"Right, you have all been read the rules. You all have your safety gear on and you all have your guns and back packs with your ammo in it. Good. Now just to recap..." the speaker stopped talking when he noticed Shawn moving his hands. "What are you doing?"

"Carl is deaf; I'm just signing what you are saying to him."

"Ok," he said going back to the chart, shaking his head. "As I was saying, you must NOT fire the guns at point blank range, or at the face. Once hit, you must move back to the door you entered through, which will have your colours on it, and your guns are to be raised above your head. You must then close it behind you and return to this room and wait for the others. Anyone caught walking around like this to ambush other players will be disqualified. Do you all agree to these rules?"

"Yes," replied all the players.

"Ok, start by walking down the hallway and as you come across the door with your colour on it, please stop, pull the lever and wait. When the door opens and you enter the arena the game begins and may the best player win."

They all turned and started down the hall, the group slowly got smaller and smaller as they came to their respective doors. Shawn was the last one to reach his door. Five minutes after he pulled his lever the door opened. Shawn slowly moved through the doorway and into the arena.

He slowly looked around at the smooth walls; he could see there was only one way to go. Holding the gun as a professional, Shawn made his way deeper into the maze.

On the other side, Lassiter had also started his way further into the maze. He had been going along for about ten minutes before a green paint ball exploded in front of him.

"Spencer," Lassiter said through clenched teeth, as he looked around; he couldn't see Shawn anywhere. Tightening his grip on the gun, he moved on, looking all around him. Suddenly he saw a shadow on the wall. Steadying himself, he dove to the ground as he fired the shot, hitting the business man, right in the centre of the chest.

"No, damn it," the anger on the businessman's face only stayed for a moment, because when he saw Lassiter watching him, it was gone.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else," Lassiter said watching his reaction.

"It's ok. It's just every time I come here I only last a few minutes."

"Sorry to hear that; I guess you better go. See you back at the changing room." Lassiter felt sorry for the man, but this was a game of elimination and unfortunately, he lost. Lassiter headed in the opposite direction, determined to find and bring down Spencer.

Meanwhile, Shawn had headed off looking for the others. He wanted to leave Lassiter for last, but also wanted him on his toes. He was about to round a corner, when he caught a movement just in the corner of his eye. By the shape and size, he could tell it was one of the twins.

Shawn quickly dropped to the floor, firing at the same time. By the time he came out of the roll, Tom was starting to walk away with his gun above his head. Shawn felt sorry for the guy, but this was the nature of the game and he couldn't help be glad as well. Shawn looked up at the score board; he knew that it would take Tom at least five minutes to get back to his door and one person was already out. So that was two down and three to go before it was just Lassie and him.

Susie was caught in between Lucy and Carl; the married couple stood there aiming their guns at her, but before they could fire, both Shawn and Lassiter came out shooting. Lassiter had gotten Carl and Shawn in turn got Lucy. In the confusion, Susie managed to slip away.

Shawn knew Lassiter would shoot him without thinking, so he also got out of the area, while Lucy and Carl were in Lassiter's way.

"Damn it, Spencer, I'll get you yet," Lassiter called out

"Then come and get me," Shawn teased as he turned another corner.

Lassiter exited in the same direction he came in, and moved as close to the wall as he could get. Expecting Shawn to come bounding out at any minute, Lassiter gripped the gun so tight his fingers started to turn white, so when Susie came into sight, there was no hope that Lassiter would miss her. She looked at him in horror as the paint ball busted onto her chest.

"I'm so sorry, I really am," Lassiter said.

"It's ok, I better head back in." Susie put her gun up into the air and started to walk away.

Lassiter headed off the other way. He felt so bad that he had shot her, but he had no choice and he really wanted Spencer. Suddenly there was a siren going off and an announcement came over the speakers.

"_There are now only two players left. Carlton and Shawn, we wish you both good luck and may the best man win."_

"So, Spencer and I are all that are left, so the game is really on," thought Lassiter.

"Now let's get down to business. I'm coming for you, Lassie, I'm coming," thought Shawn.

They each started to wander around the maze, looking this way and that. Finally, Lassiter saw Shawn standing out in the open. Shawn had his back to him and was easy pickings. But there was something about the way Shawn was standing that worried Lassiter. As he moved closer, Shawn turned towards him. Raising his gun, Lassiter was expecting Shawn to fire, but instead, he just turned back to look at the spot just out of Lassiter's sight.

"The game is over, Lassie; we need the police here now!"

Shawn spoke with a seriousness Lassiter had never heard him use before. Moving slowly forward, Lassiter finely saw what Shawn was looking at. There on the floor lay the body of the businessman. They were sure he had been murdered; after all, how many people can turn their head all the way around, so that they were looking at where they had been.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	10. Two clues are better than none

**Chapter 10:**** Two clues are better than none**

Shawn and Lassiter sat in the waiting room with the others while the arena was being secured. Lassiter stood there slowly looking over the group; one of them was a murderer, but which one and why?"

"Why are we being kept here and where is the other guy?" Susie asked with a little fear in her voice.

"He's dead," Shawn said without feelings.

"Dead, how, who?" came the questions from Lucy

"He was..."

"Spencer!" Lassiter growled in a low warning voice. "Don't you dare!"

"Ok,"

It seemed strange to Lassiter that Spencer just gave up. There was something wrong about this and he had a feeling Shawn knew what it was.

"What, what was he going to say? We have the right to know!" shouted Tom

"WE just need to wait for the police to arrive, that's all," Lassiter said staring at Shawn.

"The police, why the police?" asked Susie

"Because, one of your fellow players is dead" A new voice came into the room, followed by its owner.

Juliet entered the room followed by McNab; they had been called in for this case because all other officers were already attending call outs.

"O'Hara!" Lassiter said a bit sharply, at the surprise of seeing her there.

"Detective Lassiter," she replied, nodding at him.

O'Hara then turned to face the other players.

"My name is Detective O'Hara, your fellow player, George, was found dead out in the arena. While we investigate the death, we would like you all to co-operate with us so we can finalise this matter quickly. Now, who found the body?"

Juliet's eyes wandered over the players one at a time, until they landed on Shawn, who had his hand up.

"You found him?"

"Yes," Shawn said, pushing himself from the wall.

Juliet let out a loud sigh, shaking her head; she looked back at the note book in her hand.

"Who was the last to see him alive?"

"I might have been," Lassiter said.

Juliet turned around to him. "Why do you think it was you, Detective Lassiter?"

"Because I was the one who shot him..." Realising how that sounded, Lassiter continued to explain. "I mean, with a paint ball. When I last saw him, he was holding his gun above his head, walking away."

"Why do you keep calling him Detective?" asked Lucy

"Because..." Lassiter started to answer, but was interrupted by Juliet.

Because," she gave Lassiter a warning look before continuing. "He is Detective Carlton Lassiter of the Santa Barbara police. But he will not be involved in this case, except for answering the question asked of him, right, Detective?"

Shawn moved a step closer and was about to say something when Jules turned on him. "And that goes for you too, Shawn." she looked at the other players and began to explain what she meant. Shawn here is the department's, registered Psychic. Neither man will be helping out. Do I make myself clear, Shawn?"

"That's not fair, Jules. Why only say my name?" Shawn whined

"Because, Shawn, Detective Lassiter doesn't usually push his way into cases like you do." Juliet tried to hold back a giggle, as she was having fun pushing Shawn and Lassiter around. "Now, did anyone else see the victim after Lassiter shot him?"

"Excuse me," came the timid voice from Lucy, "But my husband was wondering how we would know if we had seen him after the gentleman shot him?"

Juliet looked at Carl and then back at Lucy.

"Why doesn't your husband ask for himself?" Juliet asked

"Because he is deaf, Juliet." supplied Shawn.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know."

"That's ok, now the answer," queried Lucy.

"Well, if, I guess..."

"If you had seen him after Lassiter had shot him, one, he would have been holding his hands, with his gun, above his head and he would have had a blue paint mark where Lassie had shot him." This explanation again supplied by Shawn.

All the other players shook their heads and said that they hadn't seen him then. After Juliet finished writing her notes, she looked at each of the players. She then turned and looked at McNab.

"This is officer McNab, I would like you all, and I do mean all," she said looking at Shawn and Lassiter. "I want you all to give him your full name, address and a contact number, please."

All the players did as they were told and then went and sat down to wait for whatever was to come next. Just after Shawn had finished, another officer came in with the two managers. Mr. Kane from the restaurant and the little man from the arena walked up to O'Hara.

"Arr, now Lento's and the paintball arena are owned by the same person, is that right?" Juliet asked

"Yes," replied the little man, in a bit of a grumpy voice.

The other manager looked down at him. Sighed and shook his head.

"What my friend here means is, yes, the same person owns both places. But he is out of the country at the moment and we are the ones in control of both places."

"I see," Jules said, a bit suspicious of the way he said that the owner away 'out of the country'.

"But, but..." the little man said looking up at his companion and waving his hand at the group of suspects.

"No buts about it. He is OUT of the country," snapped Mr. Kane. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Downing, here, doesn't always know what the owner is doing, do you?" he said never taking his eyes off Mr. Downing.

Giving the players a cranky look, Mr. Downing let out a sigh. "I guess I don't."

Neither O'Hara nor McNab missed this exchange between the two men. O'Hara took a mental note to question them about it later.

"Right, I want you two to give Officer McNab your details and anything else you can think of, either about the victim, our suspects or the arena." She then returned to the group.

"Can we go home soon?' asked Lucy.

"Yes, you can, very soon. I need you all to go with an officer and tell him or her, what you know about the victim and what you saw. I also need the clothes you are wearing."

"Well, that will be easy, Jules. The jump suits and shoes belong to the arena." Shawn added.

Jules gave Shawn a warning look and then went on. "After you do go home, I suggest that you don't leave town until this matter is cleaned up, ok?"

"But we are only in the country for another two days," the twins said together.

"Well, we better hope this doesn't take too long to clear up," Juliet said.

As they were heading into the change room, Shawn saw Lucy sign to Carl.

"_That stupid man, why did he have to go and break his neck_?"

Carl looked at her, confusion on his face and sign back.

"_Broken neck, how...?"_

Lucy looked around and spied Shawn watching them, she gave him a smile and a nod of her head. Without turning back to her husband, she signed.

"_I'll tell you later."_

He looked at what she was looking at, he then took her hand and they walked away.

"Interesting..." thought Shawn, but his thoughts were interrupted by McNab.

"Sorry, Shawn, but Detective O'Hara wants you and Detective Lassiter to come straight into the station tomorrow morning to give your statements."

"Sure, McNab, tell her I'll be there with bells on."

"Right..." McNab said as he walked away.

"You've confused him now," Lassiter whispered.

"How, Lassie? Shawn said shaking his head.

"Well, he's not sure if you will really turn up with bells on."

Shawn burst into a laugh. "Maybe I will. Let's go home, Lassie."

Lassiter took this chance to do a bit of play on words and put out there that he was interested in Shawn

"Who's home, mine or yours?" Lassiter purred.

But Shawn's mind was on the case and didn't catch it, instead he replied, "Psych office, please. I left my bike there remember."

"Oh, right. Well, we better get going, then," the disappointment strong in his voice.

Shawn had noticed it and wondered why Lassiter was disappointed again. And what was he missing. The men walked out of the room, deep in their own thoughts.

O'Hara and McNab watched as they left but neither of them could work out what had just happened between them and why they seemed to be upset. Unfortunately, they couldn't dwell on it at the moment; they had a crime scene to process. Getting Shawn and Lassiter together will have to wait 'til the morning.

Lassiter pulled up outside the Psych office, his head full with what he did wrong. Was it the way he said it, or was it just not the right words? He wished he knew. Shawn's thoughts were different; he was trying to work out how Judy knew that George's neck was broken and why did George's face and name seem familiar to him. The other thing going through his mind was what was wrong with Lassie and why did his moods swing so much.

Shawn climbed out of the car and closed to door. He turned and then leaned in through the window. He really wondered if Lassiter was really trying to use these dates to find out if he was psychic or not.

"Well, Lassie, I had fun tonight, except for the dead body, of course."

"Thank you, Sha... umm, Spencer, I had a good night too. I'll see you at the station in the morning then?"

"Yeah, I guess you will," Shawn said. "Thanks, for the lift. I, ahh, guess you better get going, then."

"I better get going, Spencer. See you tomorrow."

"Ok," Shawn said. He was just pulling his head out, when he stopped and put it back in.

"Lassiter..."

"Yes, Spencer," Lassiter said, his heart starting to beat a bit quicker, hoping that Shawn wanted to talk about what he had said.

"If you really want to know me, here's a hint. The curse of a gifted," Shawn then pulled his head out of the car and walked over to his bike.

"The curse of the gifted, the curse of the...," Lassiter mumbled to himself. "Spencer, what the hell does that mean?" Lassiter yelled at Shawn's back

Shawn did not turn around; instead he climbed onto his bike and drove away. Lassiter was going to just catch him back at his home, since Spencer just lived up the street from him, only to realise that Shawn went the other way.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	11. Juliet and Shawn have a Talk

**Author's Note:**** After I chose the title of the book, I decided to look it up and see what would come up. It surprised me to find out that there is a book out there with the same title. I mean no copy write infringement and as far as I know, the contents of neither book are the same. **

**Chapter 11:**** Juliet and Shawn have a Talk.**

Lassiter pulled into his driveway about fifteen minutes later. Hopping out, he walked into his house. About five minutes later, he was back out, sitting in his car, lap top sitting on the steering wheel and a flask of hot coffee next to him. He knew if Spencer came home he would see him, but for now, he was more interested in what Shawn had said.

"_If you really want to know me, here's a hint. The curse of a gifted"_

"Curse of the gifted," Lassiter said to himself, as he typed it into his laptop. What he was expecting came up with the search engine; such as sites about witches, spells and gypsies, which Lassiter laughed at. He, himself, was a descendent of some of the more famous Irish gypsies.

Then, just as he was about to give up, it caught his eye. A book called "The Curse of the Gifted" written by Shawn Spencer. When he had the image flip over and he looked at the back of the book and there it was, a photo of Spencer, a very younger version, but Spencer, none the less.

Lassiter clicked onto the eBook part, and started to skim through it. He knew he could be here for a long time, waiting, but at least now he had something to read.

Meanwhile, Shawn had driven back to Lento's. He wanted to talk to Mr. Kane and Mr. Downing. As he watched the police going in and out of the side door of the arena, the image of George filled his mind. Shawn had started to reverse the sequence of events, leading back from the last time he had seen George.

The first image was George lying on the ground dead. The next time was, when George was dropped off at his door in the hallway outside the arena. As it slowly went on, it had them walking down the hallway backwards and then to them all standing around talking after he and Lassiter had entered the room.

He was next in the restaurant, sitting down eating, and looking over the room below. There, sitting alone was George. He had anger on his face and he kept looking at his watch. Shawn mused over who George could be waiting for, then he realised it. George was the businessman who had contacted him about a business proposal. He had arranged to meet him at the restaurant, but had no intention of showing up.

Shawn knew that people thought he was cold, cruel and calculated when it came to business. The truth was; he was just very careful. By getting them to sit in a restaurant for hours on end and not show up was a test. It told Shawn so much about the person he might be about to start a partnership with. Shawn had a video camera pointed straight at them. This test, sitting at a table, was one for anger management, self control, how they respected other people and the most important thing, patience. He'll have to remember to view the tapes later, but for now, he needed some answers as to why Mr. Downing was about to give him away.

Yes, he knew that Mr. Downing was angry at him, but it wasn't his fault they defaulted on their contract with him. The clause was there to protect both parties and for Shawn, it was a pain. How many places of business had he ended up owning, because of that clause?

He watched closely as Jules walked out of the arena, she was holding something in her hand, but before he could see what it was she turned away, to watch as they wheeled out the body. Shawn shook his head wondering what the business proposal was. He sat there thinking, as they loaded the body, that the victim was once Mr. George John. Then as they were closing the door, it hit him; Mr. John wanted to purchase a nice piece of land just outside the town.

Shawn had plans to turn it into a retreat for sick kids. But Mr. John wanted the land, so he could put a housing estate on it. His application said it would be for low income families, to get them out of the crime filled estates of the bigger cities. The proposal interested Shawn and he wanted to know more, thus the meeting.

"Shawn, what are you doing here?"

Shawn was pulled from his thoughts by Juliet shouting at him. Looking up, Juliet was walking his way, and she didn't look happy. Putting on a smile, he wondered how he was going to get out of this. Then he saw what she was carrying, the smile disappeared. Not wanting to face the questions that were coming, he turned to get on his bike.

"Don't you dare." Jules voice was so low and the warning tone sent a shiver down his spine. He turned back to face her, knowing that there was no escape. Shawn just stared at her without smiling then he let out one big sigh.

"Jules..."

"Why, Shawn, why have you lied to me, to everyone?"

Shawn could hear the disappointment in her voice. He glanced down at the paper work in her hand, the paper work that had his signature on it, naming him as the owner. As he raised his eyes to hers, Jules could see the fear and sadness with-in his. He just shook his head at her and looked back down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Jules, It's just, that..." he said pointing at the paper work, "that's just not me. I don't like that part of me and I don't like what it does to people, when they find out about it."

Tears, Juliet could see tears brimming at the edge of his eyes. Shawn, the happy go lucky psychic, was about to break into tears and this broke Jules's heart. She had a feeling that Shawn wasn't as strong as everyone thought.

"Shawn," Juliet said in a more gentle voice "I need to know why you didn't tell me that you knew the victim."

"I didn't, I've never meet him before today."

"But you had a meeting set up with him."

"Yes and no, Jules," Shawn said shaking his head. "Yes, I had a meet set up, but I had no intention of going through with it."

"Why would you...?"

"Why would I set up a meeting, with no plans to turn up? Because, I don't like going into a business deals without checking out the person first. This meeting was to see how the person handles stress dealing with me, or rather with other people."

"How does leaving them in a restaurant show you that?"

"The table Mr. John was sitting at had a camera watching him. I have learnt that, if you put a person into a situation where he feels let down, they show their true colours. So by not turning up, he was put on the spot, I would have to talk to the wait staff to see how he treated them and then I would watch the tapes and see his behaviour for myself. I must admit, Mr. John was the first one to go into the arena."

"So how many times had you met him before?"

"Always the cop, aren't you, Jules. I already told you I've never met him before. When Lassie and I walked into the waiting room, it was the first time I had meet Mr. John. In fact, I don't even think he would have known who I was."

"I'm sorry about this, Shawn, but, if you've never met him, why the meeting?"

"Because, of this!" Shawn said, as he pulled the file she was caring from her arms. "I wanted to find out more about this," he said as he waved the file in front of her.

Juliet looked at the file; it was one from they had taken from Mr. John's briefcase. It was a proposal to buy land to develop low income housing.

"So what did he want from you?"

"He wanted to buy some land I've got just outside town. I was already planning on developing it myself, into a camp for sick kids. But if his proposal was for real, I could easily move mine to a different site."

"How much...?"

"Before you finish asking that question, Jules, I suggest you think about if it is really relative to the case." Shawn's voice was down low with a fair amount of warning to it for Juliet to change her question.

"OK, well, I've had a quick look at it and it seemed sound to me."

"Oh, yes, the proposal was sound, that's why I was thinking about investing in the project. It was the fact that he had offered me six and a half million for it, that got my attention."

"Why's that?"

"Because the land is only valued at three million, so why would someone offer me more than double what it is worth."

"Maybe they just really wanted it?"

"Yeah, I got that, but why, why that piece of land, I mean I got it, because the person who borrowed the money from me to buy it passed away before finalising the loan."

"I don't understand, what do you mean, Shawn?"

"What I mean is, in all my contracts, there is a clause that if you default, or if the person or persons who had taken out the loan is convicted of a crime or becomes deceased the said item the loan was borrowed for becomes the sole property of mine."

"Oh, is that how..."

"How, I became the owner of Lento's. Yeah, both Mr. Kane and Mr. Downing defaulted on their loan and I became the owner about five years ago."

"Could either one of them be angry enough to try to frame you for murder?"

"No, Julies, they're not. In fact we were just about to sign a new contract between us."

"Ok, well I think that's all we need for now, but I still want you to come down to the station in the morning."

"Ok, Jules." Shawn turned and had gotten on to his bike then looked at O'Hara. "Juliet, is there a way you can keep the fact that I have money out of the case?"

"I'll try, Shawn, but I'm not promising anything."

"Thank you, Jules; and Jules, check out the married couple."

"Why?"

"Because they're not telling you the whole truth, the spirits are telling me that she knew that George had a broken neck, which means..."

"That she had seen victim, after Lassiter shot him."

"Right, well, I'm off now, see you in the morning."

"Goodbye, Shawn" Juliet watched him ride off. She had always known Shawn was weird, but now she knows, there is a lot more to Shawn than she thought.

Lassiter had lost himself so much in the book he had nearly forgotten what he was sitting in his car for. He was expecting the book to be a kid's book of sorts, but instead, it was the most in-depth and serious piece of literary he had ever read. It had answered so many questions he had about Spencer and had explained so much more. From what he had read, he started to feel small, compared to this man he had come to love. Lassiter was pulled from his thoughts by Shawn's bike pulling into his drive way.

If only Shawn's bike hadn't made so much noise, Lassiter would have missed him pulling up and Shawn would have been able to slip inside without being detected. Instead, he turned as he heard his name being called out.

"Spencer, I want to talk to you," Lassiter yelled at him, as he walked up the footpath and he didn't look happy.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	12. Lassie Finds Out the Truth

**Chapter 12:**** Lassie Finds Out the Truth.**

Shawn let out a sigh as he watched Lassiter walk towards him. He knew he would have to face Lassie soon enough, he just wished it wasn't this soon. Shawn looked around to see where Lassiter could have been hiding. Yes, he knew he was upset and not really looking out for anybody, but he is sure he would have seen Lassie somewhere.

After a quick look, the only thing he could see out of place was Lassiter's car, which was in the driveway instead of the garage. He could also see the light of the laptop illuminating the inside.

"So, Lassie, you're not as stupid as I thought," Shawn said, his voice filled with bitterness.

"Sorry, Spencer." Lassiter was taken aback by Shawn's tone.

"I thought it would take you a lot longer to work out my clue, that's all."

Lassiter just stared at the man he was in love with. Looking into the depths of his hazels eyes, Lassiter could not see the spark of a child with-in. All he could see was the cold, harsh darkness of anger and that anger seemed to be directed at him. He needed to talk to Shawn now; whether or not he wanted too.

"Spencer, can we go inside please?" Lassiter said with a hint of pleading in his voice.

"If you're here to arrest me, Detective, just do it. Otherwise, get lost!"

He wasn't in the mood for games right now. He knew what Lassiter had read about him in the book, of course he knew; he wrote it after all. But right now he was tired, tired and frustrated, and since Lassiter hadn't given him an answer, Shawn just turned to go inside. After he opened the door and took the first step into the room, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"_So this is it"_ he thought, "_he's finely got his proof and Lassie is really going to arrest me."_

So how surprised was Shawn when instead of turning him around, Lassiter just gently pushed him forward into the house. They walked slowly into the sitting room, where Lassiter guided Shawn to the sofa and had him sit down.

Lassiter watched Shawn closely. Here was a man who normally could not sit still for five minutes and yet he allowed Lassiter to control his movements from the moment he had placed his hand on his shoulder. Now Shawn sat before him, his head hung low, barely moving. Lassiter let out a sigh; he was worried, very worried.

"Shawn," Lassiter said, watching to see if he would react. When he didn't, Lassie continued. "Shawn, I'm not going to arrest you. I just want to understand."

Shawn raised his head till he was looking straight into Lassiter's eyes. He started to search them, looking for the lie, the deception, but found nothing. What he did find scared him. It wasn't anger or hatred he found, it was concern and worry. Yes, this is what Shawn was looking for, someone to love him; for him and not the money. But was that what he was seeing in Lassiter's eyes or was it just that he was worried about the implication, of the truth coming out. He knew he needed to know and the only way to know was to test it.

"Detective Lassiter, what do you want to understand?" Shawn said, his voice was low and he never moved his eyes from Lassiter's.

"I want you to tell me, if what is in this book is true?"

"You mean, do I have eidetic memory and did my dad train me to use it. Or the fact that a lot of people think I'm psychic because of what I can do?"

"Both."

"Then the answer is yes," Shawn said finely breaking eye contact as he looked back at the floor. "I have what they call eidetic memory, better known as a photographic memory."

"So everything you see, you remember?"

"Yes, I can walk into a room, look around for a few seconds and I remember everything in there, too the last detail."

"And the training your dad gave you?"

"The hat game," Shawn said laughing a little. "Yeah, Dad trained me alright. I wasn't allowed to read comics books, I wasn't allowed to have a real childhood. Everything we did was training for me to be a detective. I'm still surprised he let me be friends with Gus." Shawn let out a small, sad laugh.

Lassiter could see tears in Shawn's eyes and wondered how in the world Shawn had coped all these years, alone. He wondered if the way that Shawn behaved was his coping strategy, if it was his way of keeping everyone away from him.

Lassiter wanted to show Shawn he cared for him, that he didn't need to do all this alone any more, that is, as long as Shawn would let him. Before he really knew what he was doing, Lassiter had pulled a startled Shawn into his arms, holding Shawn close.

"It's alright, Shawn, if you are willing to let me I want to help you and to be there for you when you need me," Lassiter said in a soft voice.

It surprised Lassiter that how holding Shawn in his arms felt so right and the words came so easily. When he was with Victoria, he had to work so hard, for every word and action just to make it feel real. Now he truly knew he was never in love with her, just what she could give him. But with Shawn, it was love; true, pure love and he was willing to lose everything to be with him.

Lassiter could feel the wetness of Shawn's tears as they started to flow. Shawn had finally let go and was letting his tears wash away the stress that had been building for a long time. At first it was just the tears and then came the uncontrollable sobbing. Lassiter just sat there rubbing his back and kept trying to sooth the broken man in his arms.

As the tears and sobbing come under control, Lassiter made the biggest decision of his life. Still rubbing his back Lassiter started to speak, only this time, it wasn't words just to comfort him; they were his declaration of love.

"Shawn?"

"Yes, Lassiter?"

Lassiter shivered at Shawn using his full last name. Looking down at Shawn, he found him looking up at him and their eyes meet.

"Shawn, I know this is probably the worst time to say this to you, but I need you to know, what I'm about to say is for real."

"And what is that, Lassie?"

"Shawn, I'm in love with you. I have been for a long time. I just didn't want to admit it; not just to you, but to myself as well and if you could find it in your heart to..."

Lassiter's words were stopped short, when Shawn pulled him into a kiss. It wasn't fireworks all around and it wasn't soft or gentle. It was just their lips pressed together, tightly. But Lassiter didn't care; Shawn had kissed him, not the other way around. It only lasted for about ten seconds, but to Lassiter it could have been ten years. As they both sat there, savouring the kiss, Shawn looked again into Lassiter's eyes. This time around, he wasn't scared of what he had found, for it was what he was looking for. Love.

"Carlton?"

"Yes, Shawn?"

"I love you, too."

Lassiter was happy, not just because Shawn had said that he loved him back, but because the spark in Shawn's eyes was returning.

"Shawn, please don't take this the wrong way, but can I stay the night."

Shawn could feel the heat rising in his face, and by the look on Lassiter face, he could see that Shawn was blushing.

"Lassie, as much as I would love to be with you like that right now, I'm too tired and we both need to be in the station early to give them our statements."

Lassiter started to laugh. Shawn couldn't help thinking how beautiful the sight was. How Lassiter's eyes shone with a glow of their own and how his whole face seemed to light up.

"You should laugh more often; you look so beautiful when you do."

Now it was Lassiter's turn to blush and shyness over came him.

"Shawn, I just wanted to lay with you and to hold you. Not sleep with you, at least not yet. I think we need to get to really know each other before we do that. Don't you think?"

"Yes I do, Carlton. But if you want to stay here tonight, you better go home first."

"Why?"

"Well I'm guessing at this, but I bet you left the front door unlocked, as well as your car and you have your laptop in it, right?"

"Good points, Shawn, so can I stay?"

"Yes, you can."

Lassiter leaned down to give Shawn another kiss, this one was better than the first. This one had the tenderness and the right pressure to send electricity down his spine to his groin. As they slowly pulled apart, neither of them wanted to open their eyes, just in case it had been all a dream. Finally Lassiter made the first move.

"Shawn, I have to go, but I'll be back soon."

"Ok, and, Lassie?"

"Yes, Shawn"

"Bring your PJ's."

With a little giggle Lassiter answered. "Sure, Shawn, I will."

And with that Lassiter got up and walked out the door and up to his place. He locked all the door and windows; he then locked his car and took the laptop back to Shawn's. As he walked in, Shawn meet him with a great big smiled and hug.

"I love you, Detective Carlton Lassiter."

"I love you, too, Mr. Shawn Spencer."

They then both yawned; Lassiter was lead by Shawn, down a hallway and into his bedroom. They both got changed into their PJ's and lay down on the bed. The only problem is, how, do you sleep when the person next to you, really does loves you.

"Goodnight, Shawn."

"Goodnight, Carlton."

They had wrapped themselves around each other and they were both asleep in no time.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	13. The Next Morning

**Chapter 13: ****The Next Morning. **

Lassiter woke up feeling refreshed and relaxed. He couldn't remember ever feeling this way before, not when he drank himself into unconscious or even as a child. He was pulled from his thoughts as the man he was spooning stirred in his sleep.

Lassiter sighed in relief as he realised that Shawn was just moving more into his embrace and not having another nightmare. The events of last night entered his mind and the point where Shawn had started to thrash about in his sleep, sent a cold shiver down his spine.

At first it was just a low moan, and in his concern Lassiter had tried to awaken him. But whatever Shawn was dreaming about had gotten violent and he had started to hit out, screaming and begging for it to stop. When Lassiter had finely gotten Shawn to wake up, he was a crying mess and all that Lassiter could do was to hold him tight.

Once Shawn had settled down, he thanked Lassiter and kissed him hard. Lassiter could feel the desperation in the kiss, the need and want to know that Lassiter was still there and not just part of the dream.

When they finely parted Shawn had apologised to him and told Lassiter that the spare room was made up. When Lassiter questioned Shawn about if he wanted him to leave, Shawn had said no, but that Lassiter would sleep better in the other room, as this was the first of many nightmares he would be having throughout the night. Lassiter's response was to kiss his future lover, to reassure him that he wasn't going anywhere.

Looking at the back of Shawn's head Lassiter thought to himself that maybe having Shawn there in his arms is why he was feeling the way he was and maybe, just maybe, it helped Shawn as well, as he didn't have any more bad dreams that night.

Feeling Shawn again shift, he looked down to find two beautiful hazel eyes looking at him. Smiling at Shawn, Lassiter felt butterflies in his stomach.

"Good morning, Carlton," Shawn said his voice full of sleep, but Lassiter was glad to hear the playfulness that was there as well.

"Well good morning to you to, Shawn."

He could see Shawn looking him over, searching to find... Well, to finds what, Lassiter wasn't sure, but he knew enough from what he had read in the book, that Shawn needed this. It was his way to find everything he needed and Lassiter was happy for him to do, whatever made him happy.

"You should smile more often, you look so beautiful when you smile," Shawn said dreamily.

"But if I smile all the time, then the smiles won't be just for you."

"Carlton, you will find there are many different smiles and there will be one just for me."

"I know, Shawn, but this morning, before we go in to give our statements, can we talk about where we want this relationship to go."

"Carlton..." Lassiter could see and hear the worry and fear that had come with those words. Pulling Shawn into a light gentle kiss, he released Shawn to explain what he meant.

"Shawn, I know you just took what I said the wrong way. What I meant to say was that I know what you want from me and for me to let you know what I want from you. We need to work out if we're going to let everyone know or just see how it goes first. Do you understand?"

"I think so, but can we get breakfast first?"

"Sure," laughed Lassiter. Kissing each other they got up and dressed.

By the time Lassiter had reached the kitchen, Shawn already had bacon and eggs cooking. Lassiter sat down on a stool at the counter that divided the kitchen from the living room. He watched Shawn's back, but every so often, his eyes would wondering down to Shawn's ass. Realising he wasn't going to be able to keep his eyes off Shawn's tight ass, he started to look around the house.

The kitchen was small, with the fridge/freezer on one wall and sink and cupboards on the other. The back wall had the stove in the middle with bench space on either side. Lassiter noticed that Shawn seemed to be at home in the kitchen. He then turned and looked around the lounge.

"You can go and have a look around while you wait if you want."

Lassiter looked back at Shawn, who still had his back to him.

"How did you...?" just then Lassiter realised, that his reflection was in the window that was right in front of Shawn. "So that's how you do it!" exclaimed Lassiter.

Shawn raised his head so he could just see Lassiter's reflection and smiled. "So you got to that part of the book, I see."

"Yes, Shawn, I did and later I want to read the rest. When did you write it?"

Lassiter watched him through the reflection in the window, as Shawn let out a sigh. Lassiter could see his eyes searching through his memory as if he was looking through a book. Shawn's eyes suddenly started to shine, a shine Lassiter had seen before, just before Shawn had a 'vision'.

"I started to write it when I was fifteen, but it didn't get published til I was twenty two, or somewhere around there. Now, are you going to look around or not?"

"Talk about pushy." As Lassiter got up, he stopped for a minute. "Shawn?"

"Yes, Lassie."

"Does this feel strange to you or does it feel right, my being here, that is?"

"It feels...," Shawn said as he drew out his answer. Seeing Lassiter worry he decided to answer, he walked over to Lassiter, put his arm around his waist and pulled him down into a kiss. "I have always felt right around you, like I finally belonged somewhere. So right now, right at this moment, it feels to me this is where we are meant to be."

Lassiter gave a small smile, leaned down and gave Shawn a kiss. When they pulled apart Shawn returned to the kitchen and Lassiter wandered around the lounge. At first it seemed to be just as any other lounge, but a closer look revealed a few photos and trinkets from his life. Lassiter made a mental note to ask Shawn about them later.

"Food's ready."

Lassiter headed back to where Shawn was dishing out the food. His plate contained bacon, two sausages, fried tomato and two eggs, plus toast and a cup of hot coffee. Shawn had the same on his plate but he also had a glass of pineapple juice.

"Do you start with this every morning?" queried Lassiter

"Most days; why?"

"It just doesn't fit into the image of Shawn Spencer, that's all."

"Really, I need to start my day with a good breakfast, after all I have no idea what the day might bring."

"For a psychic, right?"

Shawn let out a quiet Laugh. "Right, a psychic, how far did you get on my story, again?"

"Don't worry, Shawn; I'm not going to tell anyone. Anyway, who's going to believe me, nobody has yet."

The two men then sat in quiet as they ate their food; apart from it looking and smelling good, Lassiter found it tasted even better. After they ate, Lassiter help Shawn do the washing up and then they went to sit down on the couch. Lassiter was a little surprised, even though it was welcomed, when Shawn sat right next to him and leaned onto him. Wrapping his arms around Shawn, allowed him to cuddle a bit closer.

"Now, Lassie, what did you want to talk about?"

"Us, Shawn, and what we want out of this relationship."

"Well, what I want is easy, I want someone to love me, for me, and I hope that is you."

"I feel the same way, what about the rest?"

"They can get their own love, I have you."

Lassiter rolled his eyes and looked at Shawn. "I meant, should we tell the others about us. I know that the Chief, McNab and O'Hara know how I feel about you and they were going to help me win your heart."

"That sounds, interesting. Gus knows how I feel about you, too. Why don't we keep them in the dark and see what they come up with."

"Shawn, that is low, but it also sounds like fun, let's do it."

"Ok, just so I've gotten this straight; we are going to have a secret relationship, so we can see what our friends can come up with, to get us together right?"

"That's right, Shawn!"

"And to do it, we're going to act as we always have. I will be flirting with you and you are going to bite my head off."

"Yes."

"I'm game, so let's do it!"

"Well, first up, we need to get down to the station to give our statements about what happened last night."

"Yes, dear," Shawn said, as he pulled Lassiter down into a kiss. "We'll be off then."

The men left Shawn's house. Lassiter walked up to his car; before he got in and drove off he flashed Shawn a quick smile. Shawn sat there on his bike for a moment watching as Lassiter's car headed into traffic.

Starting his bike, Shawn headed off as well, thankful for Lassiter's parting smile.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	14. Shawn's Interview

**Chapter 14:**** Shawn's Interview**

When Juliet and McNab walked into the interview room, they saw Shawn sitting at the table, with his chin resting on his chest.

"Are you awake, Shawn?" queried O'Hara.

Shawn raised his head and looked at Juliet with a great big smile. "Of course I'm awake. Did you look at the tapes?"

"Not yet. I just thought that, considering you usually don't get up this early, you might have fallen asleep again."

"No, Detective O'Hara, I'm wide awake and sorry about last night!"

"Well, taking in consideration about what we learnt last night, we've decided to try and keep out the information about your business dealings if we can."

Shawn sat there shaking his head at them, with a shocked look on his face. "No, no you won't. Yes, I don't like talking about that part of my life, Detective O'Hara, but I won't have you comprise this investigation, to protect me. Do I make myself clear?"

Both O'Hara and McNab were shocked by Shawn's straight forward statement. They were sure that he would be happy that they were going to keep his secret.

"Very well then, Mr Spencer," Juliet replied when she finely overcame her shock. "Shall we continue?"

"Yes, lets," Shawn sarcastically said back.

"Right," she snapped, as she reached over and turned on the tape record. "It is eight thirty in the morning, on the twelfth of May, two thousand and eleven. Present is Officer Buzz McNab and myself, Detective Juliet O'Hara. We are here to interview Mr. Shawn Spencer about what he knows about the death of Mr. George John and his relationship with the victim." Once the background information was recorded, Detective O'Hara started her questioning. "Mr. Spencer, for the record, did you know or have you ever seen the victim prior to the night of his death on the eleventh of May?"

"Yes, Detective O'Hara, I knew of the victim prior to last night, but I hadn't met him personally until we all met in the waiting room of the paint ball arena."

"You knew of him; how was this?"

"Mr. John had contacted my office about a business proposal and I had done a bit of research into his back ground, including the business proposal itself. But with that said, I hadn't actual met Mr. John in person."

"What type of business proposal was it?"

"He wanted to buy some land I owned to build low-income housing on."

"And were you going to sell it to him?"

"I don't know, I have given you the proposal because I was questioning part of it."

"Which part?"

"The offer for the land; I couldn't work out why he would be offering me over three times the market value."

"So he really wanted the land then?"

"I guess. I am just very careful with whom I do business. I had set up a meeting with him, which I was never going to show up for. He was being recorded and later I was going to see how he treated the people around him. From that I would have decided whether or not I would go ahead and discuss the business proposal with him."

"Do you know the rules and procedures of the paint ball arena?"

"You mean do I know if anyone else could have gotten in and killed him or if I could have arranged to play against him?"

"Yes."

"Yes, I know the procedures. I know that the doors are locked behind us so no other player can enter until their time. Once we have entered through our door onto the arena floor, we start the game. If we are shot, we are supposed to exit back through the same door, closing it behind us, which shows that we have ended our turn. Then we are supposed to go back to the waiting room and wait until all other players arrive before we can leave."

"You know these procedures well, then?"

"Yes I do. For starters, I helped set up the rules and secondly, due to defaulting on their loan to me, I am the owner of Lento's."

"Do you own a lot of property, Mr. Spencer?"

"Yes, I do. I know I don't give out the business type person look, but I do that so people don't treat me as if I'm just a money tree." Shawn's voice was cold and had an unfeeling ring to it.

Juliet was surprised at Shawn's bluntness as to why he doesn't let people know he has money. She also felt sorry for him.

"Do you know who found Mr. John's body?"

"Yes, I do. It was me."

"Did you touch the body?"

"No."

"You didn't stop and see if he was still alive?"

"I came around the corner and saw him lying on the floor. At first, I thought he was trying to use deception to trick me, but then I saw the way his head was to his body and I knew there was no way he was still alive. Not like that." Shawn turned his head away from the table, but not before Juliet saw the pained look he had.

"Who reported the find?"

"Lassie; I'm sorry, I meant Detective Lassiter. We were the only ones left on the playing field at the time. In fact he only just followed me around the corner."

"Mr. Spencer, you returned to the arena last night, what for?"

"I wanted to talk the managers."

"Why?"

"I wanted to know why one of them was going to rat me out to you."

"Rat you out?" Juliet said with her eye brows raised.

"Yeah, I wanted to know why, when you asked about the owner, one was going to tell you that I was the owner."

"Ok, but you have come forward with this information yourself, anyway."

"No. I saw the file in your hand last night. You already knew it was me."

"Well, yes I did know that you were the owner. Now, last night you also suggested to me that we should take a closer look at the married couple, why?"

"Because, when we went to get changed, I saw the wife sign to her husband that the victim had his neck broken."

"So?"

"Did you tell her?"

"No!"

"Well, neither did Lassiter or myself, yet everyone, except for Lassiter, claimed they hadn't see him since he was dropped off at his door. So how..."

"How did she know his neck was broken?" Juliet finished off for Shawn.

"Exactly, how did she know unless she had come across the body earlier and, like me, just thought it was a ploy."

"But why lie about seeing him, then? Thank you for that, Mr. Spencer, I'll look into it."

"You're welcome!" Shawn said with a smile.

"Well, I think that is all we have for you right now, but we don't want you leaving the city at the moment."

"That's fine with me, Detective O'Hara."

"Right then, this interview is terminated at nine thirty, am. Thank you, Mr. Spencer, for your co-operation in this matter." Juliet reached over and shook Shawn's hand, as McNab turned off the recorder.

Shawn rose and was heading towards the door, when he realised that Juliet and McNab had stop to talk. He was just in hearing range, but he did his best to hide the smile when he overheard what they were saying.

"Do you really think that it would work if Detective Lassiter and Shawn got together?" commented McNab.

"I really don't think it's our place to say, after all it might not be Shawn that Lassiter likes; it could be another man."

"I suppose so; they just look so nice together and..." Whatever McNab was going to say, Shawn didn't hear as he had already walked out the door. He knew if he had listened to any more he wouldn't have been able to not laugh.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	15. Lassiter's Interview

**Chapter 15:**** Lassiter's Interview**

Juliet and McNab followed Shawn out of the room. Juliet was sure Shawn had overheard them, which was what they wanted. They headed over to the interview room that Lassiter was in; O'Hara hoped that Lassiter wouldn't be too angry because he had to wait.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Detective Lassiter," Juliet said looking at the file in front of her. Looking up, O'Hara could see that Lassiter was sitting up straight staring back at her.

"That's ok, Detective O'Hara."

"So are you ready for your interview?"

"I guess so."

McNab and O'Hara walked over and sat down across from Lassiter. As O'Hara placed the file in front of her, McNab leaned over and turned on the recorder.

"It is ten o'clock in the morning, on the twelfth of May, two thousand and eleven. Present is Officer Buzz McNab and myself, Detective Juliet O'Hara. We are here to interview Detective Lassiter about what he knows about the death of Mr George John and how he knows the victim. Detective Lassiter, for the record did you know or have you ever seen the victim prior to the night of his death on the eleventh of May?"

"No, Detective O'Hara, I had not met the victim prior to last night when I met him in the waiting room of the paintball arena."

"Did you know the victim's name?"

"No, we were only introduced by our first names and that's all."

"Do you know who found the victim?"

"Yes, it was Spencer! Err, I mean Shawn Spencer," Lassiter said shaking his head.

"Now we have confirmed that you were the one to shoot him, with a paint ball that is. How long do you think it was in between when you shot him and when his body was found?"

"That's a bit hard to say. I was concentrating on the game, more than the time. But, if I have to guess, at least a good half hour, but the problem is, he had clocked out of the game."

"Clocked out?"

"Yeah, there's a score board on the back wall. As someone is eliminated and they close their door behind them, it indicates that they are out of the game. His came up about five minutes after he left me."

"So, he either made it back to his door or for some reason re-entered the arena, or he never got back there and someone else closed it for him?" O'Hara theorized. "Interview is suspended by Detective O'Hara at ten, fifteen." Juliet reached over and hit the paused button and then got up and headed for the door.

As she exited, the Chief came out of the viewing room.

"Detective, O'Hara?"

"If he's right and Mr. John never reached that door to close it, then the killer must have."

"So their finger prints would be on the door as well. Good thinking, Detective. Look, you go back to the interview and I'll follow up on that lead."

"Yes Chief." And with that O'Hara returned to the interview room as the Chief headed off the other way.

"Sorry about that, but I thought I'd better get someone over to the arena and dust for finger prints on the victim's door. Now, back to the interview," Juliet said as she sat down. Looking up at Lassiter she could see a strange look on his face, it looked to her as if he was proud of her. Deciding not to comment on it she reached over and restarted the recorder.

Interview has continued at ten-twenty. Detective, between the time you shot the victim and the discovery of his body, did you come across any of the other players?"

"Yes, I did. Both Spencer and I took out two of the participants, the married couple, at the same time. They had Susie, who was the sister, cornered between them and they just didn't see us. Susie and Spencer managed to slip away while Lucy and Carl were in my sights. Then I came across Susie again and shot her, which only left me and Spencer in the game. The next thing I knew, I came across Spencer standing a little way off from Mr. John's body. We then got help."

"Thank you for that, Detective. Is there anything else you think we should know?"

"Not really, only that..." Lassiter had a hesitated look in his eyes.

"What?"

"I think you need to look at the twins; there seemed to be, I don't know, they seemed to be keeping something to themselves. Sorry, I'm just a bit tired; I didn't get much sleep last night."

"That's alright, Detective, and don't worry, were already looking into the other players' pasts as we speak. Thank you for coming down and I don't think I need to remind you not to leave town."

"Don't worry, I won't be leaving."

"Ok, then." Juliet looked at her watch. "Interview is ended at ten forty-five." McNab switched off the recorder.

As they walked out the door, O'Hara grabbed Lassiter's arm. "Lassiter..." She started to say. But she then saw Shawn watching them. "I need to talk to you, when Shawn isn't around."

"Ok," Lassiter responded, wondering what that problem was.

They all returned to their desks. Shawn hung around for a few more hours and then left to get something to eat.

Lassiter had seen Shawn leave and before he could even blink, Juliet was at his desk. Worried at what O'Hara wanted to talk about, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Ok, what was that earlier?"

"What do you mean, O'Hara?"

"The way you and Shawn came-in at the same time."

"Well, since we started these dare dates; I've found out that Shawn lives just up the road from me. So, Shawn and me, arriving at the same time really means nothing."

"Really, he lives just up the street from you; since when?"

"I really don't know. When I picked him up for the first date, was the first I knew myself. Why don't you ask him when he moved there?"

"Oh, I will, don't worry about that. But, do you still want us to drop hints to him?"

"Of course I do, what would make you think I wouldn't want you to. I'm in love with him, O'Hara, and I really need your help to win him over." Lassiter held his head in his hands, so O'Hara couldn't see that he was lying.

Yes, he loved Shawn more than he had ever loved anyone, but he didn't really need O'Hara's or McNab's help any more. Not since last night when they had finely told each other how they felt. Lifting his head, he gave her a frown.

"Was there anything else, O'Hara?"

"No thank you. I better get going over those reports." She hesitantly pointed to her desk and the papers spread out over the top and walked away.

Lassiter let out a heavy sigh; it was going to be a long day.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	16. Secrets Uncovered

**Chapter 16: ****Secrets Uncovered****.**

Juliet and McNab sat at her desk, going over the interviews and statements. Shawn had been right; everyone except Lassiter claimed they hadn't seen Mr. John after they left him at his door. Yet, if Shawn is right about Lucy signing to her husband that Mr. John had broken his neck and she had come across his body, why would they lie about it?

While they were doing this, Shawn and Lassiter were talking amongst themselves. Juliet couldn't help it; she just had to keep looking at them. They did look good together, regardless the fact that they were both men. They were also totally opposite of each other. Maybe that's why they fit so well together.

Just as Shawn let out a laugh, Gus walked in. Looking around he spied his target, which was Shawn, and started to walk over to them.

"You are joking, right? They've got my dad in on this as well?" Shawn said laughing. He had a quick look around for his dad, but instead he saw a very angry Gus walking his way. "Damn it!"

"What's wrong, Spencer?"

"Gus is heading this way and he doesn't look happy."

"Shawn Spencer!" Gus barked as he walked. "Where the hell have you been?"

Shawn just stared blankly at Gus; he was rattling his brain, trying to think about where he was supposed to be this morning, but for the life of him he couldn't think of anywhere in particular. Only Shawn, had ever seen an angry Gus and Shawn was afraid of it. So much so that he actually moved so that Lassiter was in between them. This 'move' didn't go un-noticed by Lassiter, who instantly stood up to protect his boyfriend.

"Gus!" Shawn squealed. "Buddy, old pal, what's up?"

"Don't, Shawn!" Gus growled at him, looking straight past Lassiter as if he wasn't even there. "Where the hell were you this morning?"

"I, I was here. There was a murder a Lento's last night. We had to come in this morning and be interviewed," Shawn said; fear could be heard easily in his voice.

"Shawn, can't you go anywhere without getting into trouble? I have just spent the better part of this morning waiting for you to give me a hand moving that cabinet. You could have given me a call."

"Sorry, I forgot," Shawn whispered, as he lowered, his eyes.

Gus seemed to have calmed down and was now looking back and forth between Shawn, who was still standing behind Lassiter, and Lassiter himself. Frowning at what he saw, he was about to say something, when Lassiter spoke instead.

"Mr. Guster!" Lassiter barked at Gus, making him jump a little. "I don't believe your tone is necessary. Do you?"

"No, Detective Lassiter, it's not." Gus said, eyeing Shawn. He could now see how serious Lassiter was about Shawn and how protective he could be. "Sorry, Shawn, Detective Lassiter, I was just upset that Shawn didn't call me."

"Ok." Lassiter turned just enough so that he could see Shawn. "Are you ok?" he inquired, looking Shawn over.

Shawn gave him a smile; not his usual smile to be sure, but a happy one none the less.

"Yeah, Gus and I are good, right, buddy?" Shawn held out his fist in the familiar gesture.

"Of course we are, Shawn," Gus replied bumping his fist onto Shawn's.

"Alright, Burton; do you still need me to help you move the cabinet?"

"No, Shawn, I don't. Your dad gave me a hand in the end."

"Ok. Well...Jules," Shawn called over to Lassiter's partner. "Do you still need me at the moment?"

Hearing her name, Juliet looked up from the paper work she was doing and stared at Shawn with a blank look for a few seconds. Realising what Shawn had asked, Juliet looked back at the paper work, checked a few things and looked back at him.

"Arr... yes, yes, Shawn, you can go for now and if I need you for anything, I'll just call," she said, then looking back at the paper work, she whispered to McNab, "or I'll get Lassiter to do it."

"Thanks, Jules; so, Gus, want to go and get something to eat?"

"Sure, buddy, you know I can always ready eat."

"Spencer!" Lassiter called as Shawn and Gus headed out.

"What, Lassie?" Shawn called back.

"Tonight, where are we going?" Lassiter held his hand up.

"Oh, I told you, Lassie. You don't need to honour the dare anymore."

"Spencer, I honour all my commitments, whether I want to or not, so where to?" Lassiter particularly growled.

Shawn swallowed hard. The way Lassie was acting was turning him on and he knew he had to get out of there now. Thinking fast, he thought of a place he could book at short noticed.

"Wear what you had on last night and pick me up at seven." He gave Lassie a wave and quickly turned and rushed out of the station with Gus in tow.

When they got outside Gus pulled Shawn up, just as he was getting into the car. "Shawn, what's this about a murder? And what really happened last night and this morning?"

"I'll tell you all about it, when we get in the car."

"Ok Shawn... and Shawn?"

"Yes, Gus?"

"Sorry about losing my temper before."

"Don't worry, Gus. I've already forgotten about it." Shawn gave Gus a great big smile.

"Thank you, Shawn," Gus replied smiling back.

They got into the car and Gus started to drive to the same cafe which Juliet, McNab, Henry and he were at last night when they were making plans to get Shawn and Lassiter together. After parking the car, they went in and ordered their food.

No sooner had the waitress left when Gus asked his question again. "So, last night and this morning, Shawn?"

"Ok, Lassie was driving past the Psych office when I was rushing to get home for him to pick me up and he saw me coming out. He pulled up and we went from there to Lento's. Everything seemed to go ok and then we went to play a game of paintball."

"That seems straightforward so far."

"Well, it was. We even ended up being the last ones left in the arena, or at least that's what I thought until I came across the body of one of our fellow players. He had his neck broken. Head was facing the wrong way and everything, you should have..."

"No, Shawn, no I don't, ok. Let's just skip that part and tell me what happened next." Gus had been leaning into the table listening to Shawn's story but moved back when the waitress arrived and put their plates of food down on the table.

"Gus, you old spoils sport. But if that's the way you want it, well, after finding the body and everything we had to wait for the cops and it turned out to be Jules and McNab, which was so wicked, I mean, what were the chances of it being them and..."

"Shawn, you're getting off track, focus, please. What happened after Jules and McNab got there?"

"Well they asked some question and we were then allowed to go home. I got Lassie to take me back to the office so I could get my bike, but I couldn't sleep so I went back to Lento's. Jules was still there and she caught me and kept me talking for another couple of hours. I finely got home around about one this morning."

"And then what happened, Shawn?"

"Gus, what do you mean by 'and then what happened'?"

Just then the waitress walked up. "Excuse me, have you finished?" she said gesturing to the empty plates on the table.

Gus looked up at her and nodded. She recognised him from the last time he was there. "Oh, hi, did you manage to get your friend and that man Lassiter together yet?"

Gus looked at Shawn and despite his normal complexion the blush that crossed his face was quite noticeable. Right now he was praying for something to happen to get him out of this situation quickly. The waitress saw how Gus reacted and realised that the man sitting with Gus must have been one of the two in question from last night.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean too..."

"It's ok, Lassiter and I are together," Shawn said giving her one of his trademark smiles. She relaxed a little and took away the plates.

Shawn on the other hand was looking at Gus who was sitting there, doing his best fish impression before finally being able to speak. "Lassiter and you, when? And why the dare date tonight?" Gus asked in shock.

"Because we didn't want to ruin everyone's fun trying to drop hints about me liking him and him liking me. I mean Lassiter told me, that dad even tried to drop a hint. I mean DAD, how the hell did you get him involved?"

"This way," Henry replied as he came over to their table.

"Dad...!"

"Mind if I join you?"

Shawn looked at Gus, who just shrugged, back.

"He did the same thing last night, too."

"I said Shawn, can I join you?"

"Sure, Dad," Shawn said moving over to leave room for Henry to sit down. Instead, Henry sat next to Gus so he was facing his son.

"Now, Shawn, I'm sure Gus asked you what happened after you got home."

"Well, as I was opening up my door, Lassie come up to me and wanted to talk. Well, we got to talk and he said he loved me and I said it back. That's all," Shawn answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"No, that's not all. How about the fact that he then left, locked up his car and house, went back to your place and then didn't leave until this morning when you both left at the same time."

"You were spying on me, both of you!" Shawn said with a raised voice, while he was staring at Gus.

"Shawn, it's not what you think. We were..."

"You were just watching me, right?"

"Yes, but not..."

"Gus we don't need to explain ourselves or our actions," Henry said.

"No, you don't. I just thought you would have trusted me a little bit more than that. Evidently, I was wrong." Shawn climbed out of his seat, took out his wallet and placed some money on the table. Than without a word to either of them, he walked out the door.

Gus could only look at Henry, who was just staring at the door his son had just walked out of.

'_Oh, God, what have I done?_'Henry thought to himself.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	17. Trying to Catch a Lie

**Authors Notes: ****Words in italics are being signed**

**Chapter 17:**** Trying to Catch a Lie.**

Juliet and McNab were sitting across from Mrs. Lucy Hope in the interview room. From the first time they had meet her and until now she seemed to be just a sweet, gentle woman who cared for her husband who was deaf. But sitting here in the interview room, they were getting a different picture. For starters, she didn't seem too upset about where she was.

O'Hara had seen some very strong men break down in the interview rooms simply because they were nervous about being there, not because they were guilty of anything. But Mrs. Hope sat there cool as a cucumber, as if she was to have a cup of tea and a nice chat.

And sitting there was all they were doing. For the last ten minutes, Juliet had been pretending to read the file, and McNab was just watching Mrs. Hope. Normally, by now the suspect would have been asking questions, but not Mrs. Hope. No, Mrs. Hope just sat there looking straight back at McNab.

"Ok, McNab, start the tape please." McNab reached over and pressed record. "The time is one in the afternoon on the twelfth of May. This is a follow up interview of Mrs. Lucy Hope, in conjunction with the death of Mr. George John. Present is Officer McNab and myself, Detective Juliet O'Hara. Good Afternoon, Mrs. Hope."

"Good afternoon, Detective O'Hara."

"Mrs. Hope, sorry about this, but there seems to be a problem with your statement," Juliet said with a smile.

"Really, my dear and how is that?"

"A witness said he saw you sign to your husband that Mr. John had broken his neck. Now in your statement to the officers at the time, you said you hadn't seen the victim after he was left at his door before you all went into the arena. So the problem is how did you know he had broken his neck?"

"Well you see, my dear, I had forgotten that I had seen him again. I came across him lying on the floor and thinking that he was going to ambush me, I just moved away."

"Ok, but that still doesn't explain why you said you hadn't seen him, or how you knew he had a broken neck?"

"I feel a little embarrassed about that. You see, it was after I had given my statement that I remembered that I had seen him and when it was mentioned that he was murdered, well I remembered the way he was lying there didn't seem right. If you know what I mean."

"I think I do, but the problem I have is why didn't you come in and change your statement?"

"I could have done that?" Lucy said in a surprised voiced.

"Mrs. Hope, please bear with me. So when did you remember that you had seen Mr. John lying on the floor?"

"That would have been just as we went into the changing room. Yes, that is it, that nice young man, Shawn, I think his name was. He was watching us and if I remember right, he could understand sign language."

"But that was before you gave your statement?"

"It was?"

"Yes, Mrs. Hope, it was."

"Oh dear, then I don't really have a reason for not telling the officer, other than I must have forgotten to."

"Then why, when you came in to sign your statement you didn't let us know then?"

"I just didn't think about it, sorry."

"Ok, I'll be back soon. Officer McNab, will you please get Mrs. Hope a drink," Juliet said as she rose and smiling at Mrs. Hope she walked out.

Juliet went straight into the observation room, where Chief Vick was standing. Chief Vick never looked her way, instead she just watched as McNab returned with a cup of tea for her. He then excused himself, leaving an officer near the door. He, too, entered the observation room.

"Well, McNab, what do you think about Mrs. Hope?" the Chief asked.

"She seems like a nice lady, if fact, she reminds me of my Aunt Sally. But, Chief, my Aunt Sally is in prison for armed robbery. I think she is lying to us."

Both the Chief and O'Hara just stared at him. True, they didn't really know much about McNab's family life, but to find out he has an aunt in prison for arm robbery, wasn't something they were expecting.

"So you think she is lying to us, about what part?"

"The whole lot, she was just telling us what we wanted and expected to hear from her."

"Ok, O'Hara, what about you?"

"There is definitely something off, but what, I really can't tell. But I think McNab is right, she's lying to us."

Then the big question is why is she lying?"

"She could have witnessed the murder and was afraid to tell us?" answered O'Hara.

"No, if she was afraid, wouldn't she be nervous. Unless it was her husband and she'd seen him kill before?" added McNab.

"Possibly, but until I can talk to the husband, I can't say," Juliet said.

"Well you can, the interpreter is here now." The chief turned off the light that allowed them to see through the mirror. Turning around, she activated the other one so they could see Mr. Hope. Sitting with his back to the mirror, sat another man. "He is Special Agent Sty of the FBI."

"Thank you, Chief. Chief, doesn't Mr. Hope look nervous?"

"Yes he does. So what would the husband be nervous about, that the wife isn't?"

"Well, let's see if I can find out." O'Hara said as she and McNab walked out. When she reached the door, she called over another officer. "I want you to go in there and let Special Agent Sty know I would like to see him out here please. I also want you to stay in there with Mr. Hope, until we enter."

"Yes Detective." The officer entered the interview room and let Special Agent Sty know that he was wanted outside. Special Agent Sty signed to Mr. Hope he would be back soon, excused himself and left.

Outside O'Hara waited; as Sty exited, she gave him a smile. "Special Agent Sty, my name is Detective O'Hara and this is Officer McNab. We will be doing the interview," Juliet said as she extended her hand out for him to shake it.

Taking her hand in a firm but gentle hand shake, he gave O'Hara a small smile.

"Please to meet you, Detective O'Hara. Could you bring me up on the situation?"

"Sure," Juliet said as she turned and took the file from McNab. "We have the victim, a Mr. John, who basically had his head, twisted enough to break his neck." She handed him a photo. "The victim and the suspects were involved in a game of paintball at the time of death. We have brought Mr. And Mrs. Hope back in for a second interview, as there was a bit of a problem with their first statements."

"What type of problem, Detective?"

"Well, one of the other suspects, who, also knows how to read sign Language, saw Mrs. Hope sign to Mr. Hope that the victim had broken his neck. Yet...'

"Yet that information hadn't been released, right?"

"That's right and the fact that she had also said that she hadn't seen the victim after they had left him at his door."

"Could the other suspect be lying?"

"Yes, he could. But we still had to follow this claim through and Mrs. Hope has confirmed that, in fact, she did see him, but thought that he was going to ambush her."

"What? Did she just forget?"

"Maybe, but she has also said, she had only remembered after she had given her statement."

"That seems plausible."

"Yeah, except that she had told her husband before she had given her statement."

"I see. So what do you want me to do?"

"I just want you to sign my questions to Mr. Hope, and let me know what Mr. Hope answers. But first you need to let him know that we will be videotaping the interview."

"Why videotaping?"

"Because, if it goes to court, we'll have the audio and video to confirm what was said!"

"Good idea, shall we go?"

"Let's," Juliet pointed to the room and they all walked in and the officer left.

McNab went around and turned on three video cameras. One was pointed at Special Agent Sty, one at Mr. Hope and the other, McNab held in his hands. Detective O'Hara and Special Agent Sty sat down across from Mr. Hope.

Then Sty started to sign and McNab pointed his camera at the Special Agent. .

"Mr. Hope, this is Detective O'Hara and Officer McNab. Do you understand what I am saying?" He spoke the words as he signed.

McNab then turned the camera at Mr. Hope, who signed in return.

"_Yes, I understand_."

"Mr. Hope," Juliet started and Sty signed her words. "We have brought you back in here today because we have a problem. We are videotaping this interview, so if it this goes to court, we have on record your own words. Do you understand this and do you give permission to be recorded this way?"

"_Yes, I understand and yes, you may record me with the cameras."_

"Ok, let's start. It is three in the afternoon on the Twelfth of May. We are here to reinterview Mr. Carl Hope, in conjunction with the death of Mr. John. Present is Officer McNab, who is operating the hand-held camera, Special Agent Sty of the FBI, who is interpreting for us, and me, Detective O'Hara. Mr. Hope did you or your wife, to your knowledge, see, Mr. John after he was left at his door at the paintball arena?"

Mr. Hope frowned, and then he answered.

"_Just before we went into the changing rooms, my wife told me that Mr. John had broken his neck. I asked her how she knew that, but when she saw the young man, Shawn, watching us, she said she would tell me later."_

"And did she?"

"_No, she told me it wasn't any of my business and not to say anything, unless we were brought back in for question again."_

"What did she say for you to tell us, if you were brought back in?"

"_That she remembered after we got home and that's all."_

"Why didn't you say just that?"

Juliet watched as Mr. Hope fidget, as he watched Sty sign what Juliet had said. He looked at her nervously and then back at Special Agent Sty. He then gave his answer.

"_I'm scared of her. She hits me and sometimes locks me up, days on end."_ Then Mr. Hope pulled up his sleeve to reveal what looked like burns along his arm.

"Mr. Hope has rolled up his right sleeve to reveal to us burn marks along his arm. Mr. Hope, do you want to press assault charges against your wife?"

"_Yes. She used to work with the Special Forces; that's why I never reported her before."_ He stopped signing for a moment, closed his eyes and when he opened them, he signed that he had something else for them.

Mr. Hope pulled a book from under his shirt and placed it on the table. He then opened it up to a page that has written on the top in red bold letters, GEORGE JOHN.

"Mr. Hope has pulled a book from under his shirt and placed it open on the table to a page that has the victim's name written on top of it. By the look of it, under the name, is information on the victim as well as some numbers and dates. I am terminating this interview, at the moment, so we can go over this book and the information in it. Mr. Hope, we will be arresting your wife on the charges of assault. Do you have anyone who can come and get you?"

Mr. Hope just lowered his head, shaking it. When he raised his head back up, tears were running from his eyes; he then signed, _"No, I have no one, but thank you. Thank you for believing me."_

"Don't worry, we will find somewhere for you to go."

Juliet picked up the book and put it into an evidence bag. She then gave Mr. Hope a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and nodded at McNab, who turned off the cameras. Then they walked out, leaving Mr. Hope and Special Agent Sty alone.

Outside the door were Chief Vick and another officer. Both O'Hara and McNab looked at each other and then walked over to the Chief. Juliet was just about to say something, when the Chief stopped her by raising her hand.

"Officer Smart, will you please go in and keep Mr. Hope company and ask Special Agent Sty to come to my office."

"Yes Chief."

With that officer Smart headed towards the interview room door and the Chief, O'Hara and McNab headed to the chief's offices. Once they were seated, the Chief spoke.

"So, what do you think, O'Hara?"

"I think we need to get Mr. Hope to the hospital and arrest Mrs. Hope for the assault on him, first."

"So you believe him?"

"Yes, Chief, I do and you will too when you see the burn marks on his arm. I also think she has hurt him in other places. When I put my hand on his shoulder, he flinched."

"McNab, what do you think?"

"I agree with Detective O'Hara, Chief."

"Ok, we will get him to the hospital soon and once we meet with Special Agent Sty, you can go and arrest her, O'Hara."

Just then, there is a knock on the door.

"Enter!" called the Chief and Special Agent Sty opened the door and walked in. He sat down beside O'Hara and nodded at Chief Vick.

"Chief, what can I do for you?"

"This book; I had worked with Special Forces and I've seen ones like this before."

"You have, what were they used for?"

"They were used by assassins; organised assassins."

"You think Mrs. Hope is an assassin?"

"Yes, now the assault charge's fall in our jurisdiction and assassins fall into the FBI's, so we are going to arrest Mrs. Hope for the assault charges. That will give you plenty of time for your people to look into this book."

"Thank you, Chief. I'll call my boss right now."

"You do that, Special Agent Sty. Detective O'Hara, you better get Mr. Hope to the hospital and arrest Mrs. Hope."

"Yes Chief."

"And while you're at it, send Detective Lassiter in to me."

"Yes Chief."

With that, all three walked out and headed off in their own directions. O'Hara reached Detective Lassiter's desk and leaned over to get his attention.

"Lassiter, wake up."

"What?" Lassiter said jumping with a little start. "O'Hara, what do you want?"

"Not me."

"What?"

"The Chief wants you in her office now."

"Ok, thank you."

Lassiter got up and walked over to the Chief's door; straighten his cloths as he went. He knocked and entered just as O'Hara and McNab entered this interview room Mrs. Hope was in.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	18. All Hell Breaks Loose

**Chapter 18:**** All Hell Breaks Loose.**

Mrs. Hope looked up as O'Hara and McNab walked in. There was no smile; she just sat there staring at them with a very serious look on her face.

The officer that had been in there with her went to leave, but O'Hara stopped him. "Officer, I would like you to stay please." She then gave Mrs. Hope a small smile.

"Is something wrong, my dear?" asked Mrs. Hope

"Yes, there is. Mrs. Lucy Hope, I am arresting you under the suspicion of physically assaulting your husband, Mr. Carl Hope. You have the right to remain silent, if you choose to wave this right, anything you say can and will be taken down and used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you understand these rights I have read just read out to you?"

"Yes, my dear, I do understand." The nice looking lady was now gone and she now had the look of a very strong woman.

It took them a few seconds to realise what was happening. Before they could react, Mrs. Hope had managed to knock out the officer and take his gun. And now she was standing behind O'Hara, with the gun at her head. McNab had drawn his weapon and was pointing it at them. They were locked in a stalemate.

Meanwhile, in the Chief's office, Lassiter was getting a talking to.

"Henry Spencer rang here and he was not happy."

"Sorry, Chief, but what has that to do with me?"

"We know that you and Shawn are together and you weren't going to tell us?"

"No, Chief; it wasn't like that."

"Then tell me, Detective Lassiter what is it like?"

"Spencer and I, well, we, we sort of just told each other how we felt about each other. It's not like we slept together. Well, I mean we didn't have sex. We just talked and learned a few things about each other and we fell asleep, but that is it."

"I see and do you still want to pursue this relationship?"

"Yes, I do. We both realised we need and love each other."

"Ok, when Henry called, he said that Shawn had stormed out on him and Guster. Do you know where he would go?"

"No, I..." A commotion, from outside, interrupted Lassiter's words.

When he and the Chief go to see what is going on, the scene they see freezes them to the spot. There was Mrs. Hope with a gun to O'Hara's head and just inside the door they could see McNab and his fellow officer on the floor. O'Hara had a look of terror on her face. All the other officers had their guns pointed at the two women.

"Where is my husband?" Mrs. Hope demanded.

"No one will tell you!" O'Hara called out.

"I want to know where my husband is now! Or your pretty little detective here joins your officers in there."

An officer had seen that the Chief and Detective Lassiter were standing near her door, he carefully moved over to them, so he could let them know what was going on.

"Chief, Detective Lassiter," he whispered

"Officer Trent, what happened?"

"From what we can work out, Mrs. Hope has managed to get a gun, and fired two shots before she opened the door. So we're guessing she shot Officers McNab and Harris. She is demanding that we bring her husband to her, but Detective O'Hara won't let us."

"She's doing the right thing," Chief Vick said.

"Mrs. Hope," the Chief called out and Mrs. Hope turned slightly towards her. "Your husband isn't here. He has already been taken to the hospital."

The smile that formed on Mrs. Hopes face was a mocking one. "You're lying, he is still here." Her grip around Juliet's throat tightened. "Where, is, he?"

"The Chief told you, he's already at the hospital," a voice said from the back of the crowd.

The owner of the voice moved through the crowd, until he emerged, revealing a very serious looking Shawn Spencer.

"Well, well, if it isn't the young man who couldn't keep his nose out of other people's business. Shawn, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right and you're Lucy. Now, let her go and let these good people get to their co-workers." Shawn's voice was low, calm and filled with authority. For most this was a frightening sight.

"Make me," the dare came from her lips.

Shawn just smiled, not his usual playful, joking around smile that reached his eyes. No, this one was the type, which most people would say, belonged to the cat that had just caught the early bird, the worm and ate them both. Lassiter wondered if this was the voice and look that Shawn used when he was making a business deal.

"Do you really want to go there?" Shawn said. Never once did he take his eyes off hers, but, at the same time, he kept slowly moving forward.

Juliet could feel her captor tense and then swallow hard. Shawn was now right in front of them. He moved his hands up slowly, placing them onto her wrists and then he pulled the hand from Juliet's throat, and raised the other, which was still holding the gun, up into the air. Once he had them where he wanted them, Shawn tightened his grip.

"I said, do you want to go there?" This time it felt like he was growling.

Mrs. Hope tensed her body even more for a moment and then relaxed.

"No," she said, breaking the connection between them by looking down.

Detective O'Hara, please move out of the way," Shawn commanded, still not moving his eyes off Mrs. Hope.

Juliet moved slowly out from between them, and then Shawn removed the gun from Mrs. Hope's hand. He then walked backwards and allowed the other officers to move in and place the hand cuffs on her and go in and check on McNab and Harris. He placed the gun into an evidence bag and then pulled Juliet into a protective hug, just as her legs decided to give away.

Shawn walked her over to her desk so she could sit down.

"Shawn, that was amazing," Lassiter breathed.

"Thank you, Mr. Spencer," Chief Vick added. "I better check on McNab and Harris, I'll be back soon."

Shawn never looked at Lassiter; his eyes were on O'Hara, as he was concerned by the way she looked.

"Juliet? Jules, please look at me?" Shawn said quietly his voice remaining calm.

She looked at him and smiled. "I'm fine, Shawn, just a little shaken."

"What happened?" This time he was looking a Lassiter.

"I'm not sure, I wasn't involved, Spencer."

"Jules, what..."

"We were questioning Mrs Hope about the murder again. It looks like she's the murderer and that she could be a hired assassin. Because of this we were handing the case over to the FBI, but we were also arresting her on assault charges against her husband. That was what McNab and I were doing when all hell broke loose." Jules stopped and took a deep breath. She put a shaking hand over her mouth, as she started to cry.

"It's ok, Jules, I've got you," Shawn said as he pulled her into another hug.

Just then the Chief came back over. Her face wore a grave look.

"Are they ok, Chief?" "Lassiter asked.

"McNab has a gunshot wound to the left arm and a cut on his head where he hit it when he fell."

"And... Harris?" Lassiter asked.

"I'm sorry. He was shot in the head and he was already dead."

"NO, no, no" Juliet started to say, shaking her head.

"Juliet!" Shawn snapped, swinging her around, so she was looking at him. "This was not your fault, you did your best and no one could expect anything more of you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Shawn, but..." Juliet replied distress showing in her eyes.

"No buts about it. Chief, I think Jules needs to go to the hospital as well, just to be sure," Shawn said as his eyes wandered over Juliet's face.

"I agree. O'Hara, come on." They all walked her over to the medics and the Chief reported on O'Hara. "We have another one for you. Detective O'Hara was held by the throat and had a gun put to her head."

"We understand, Chief. So is that it, the shooting victim; the assault victim and Detective O'Hara?"

"Yes, it is."

"Chief, do you have someone who can talk to him?" asked Shawn.

"No, we were going to arrange something, but this all happened."

"Talk to who?" the medic asked.

"Mr. Hope, he's deaf," answered Shawn.

"Well, I can call it in, but we might have some trouble getting him to the hospital, if we can't talk to him," he said with a bit of concern.

"I can go with him, I know sign language," offered Shawn.

"Ok, Mr. Spencer, but you only stick to what the medics and the doctors want to know, nothing else, understand?"

"Yes, Chief."

"I could also go and take notes, Chief," Officer Trent offered.

"That would help. Do you have enough room?" the Chief then asked the medic.

"We should, Chief, but we better get going."

"Ok, I'll check up on them later, bye." Both the Chief and Lassiter watched as the medics loaded up their patients and left.

They had just finished up taping off the crime scene areas, when Gus and Henry walked in. Henry saw Lassiter off to one corner and headed straight for him.

"Detective Lassiter, where is my son?" he yelled across the room.

"As far as I know Mr. Spencer, he's at the hospital helping out with Mr. Hope. Now, please excuse me, but I have a crime scene to process."

"What happened?" asked Gus

"Mrs. Hope objected to being arrested. She killed Officer Harris, shot McNab and took O'Hara hostage. Both O'Hara and McNab are at the hospital as well," answered Lassiter.

"I'm sorry about all of this, but I need to talk Shawn," Henry said.

"As I said, you need to go to the hospital. At the moment he is the only one who can help us talk to Mr. Hope."

"And how's that?" queried Henry.

"Mr. Hope is deaf, Spencer knows sign language, that's how."

"Just answer me one thing Detective. Are you and Shawn together?"

"If I ever get to talk to him again, I might be able to find that answer myself. Now if you don't mind, I need to get back to work." Lassiter started to walk away; he stopped and turned back to Henry. "With respect, Mr. Spencer, if Spencer and I were together, I don't really see what it has to do with you." With that he just walked away.

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **


	19. Happy Endings

**Chapter 19: Happy Endings **

By the time that Lassiter had finished at the station and had gotten himself to the hospital, McNab was out of surgery and in recovery. O'Hara had gone home with her family. An interpreter had been found for Mr. Hope and Shawn was gone. Apparently, he left as soon as the interpreter arrived.

Lassiter just let out a long sigh as he walked into his house. He was tired, frustrated and angry all at the same time. He looked over at the clock on his lounge room wall. Ten o'clock it read; he was hungry, but he was too tired to go and make something. Lassiter headed towards his bedroom, but he was hit with the wonderful smell of food cooking. Curiosity got the better of him and he headed into the kitchen only to find Shawn standing in front of the stove.

"Spencer!" Lassiter barked in shock.

"Hey, Lassie, I nearly burnt myself. Don't do that!" Shawn shouted back.

Lassiter rushed to Shawn's side, "Sorry, I... I just wasn't thinking and I wasn't expecting to see you in my kitchen."

"Well, I guessed that after dealing with the crime scene, you wouldn't want to cook anything," Shawn said turning to looking at Lassiter.

Lassiter looked up and their eyes meet. He couldn't help but get lost in Shawn's eyes and he leaned in for a kiss. Shawn obliged by kissing him back. Shawn was the first to pull back from the kiss.

"Although, I could spend the rest of the evening in your arms and with our lips locked together, if I don't get back to this food it's going to start to burn."

"Ok, Shawn, I'll set the table. I didn't think I was going to see you tonight, you had already left the hospital and..."

"And what, Lassie, you thought I'd skipped town?" Shawn said with a hint of mischief in his voice.

"I don't know, Shawn; I don't know what I was thinking. Your dad was on my back about whether or not we're together. Shawn, are we together?"

"I hope so, Lassie. I am in love with you, but with that said, I just don't want to push you too hard and loose you." Lassiter could see fear in his eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, Shawn. I love you, too, and we can go as slow or as fast as you want. Just as long as we are together," Lassiter said trying to ease Shawn's fear.

"Do you really mean it, Lassie? Do you really want to be with someone like me? I'm not the same as a normal person. My moods swing from one extreme to the next and I've been lying to you all these years about being psychic."

"If I didn't want to be with you, Spencer, I would have told the Chief that you had told me the truth about your psychic powers, plus I have proof now." Lassiter held up a hard copy of Shawn's book.

"You do know that's not the only way I make my money, right?" Shawn asked with his eye brows raised.

"Yeah, I guessed that, but that's something I will learn about you, as I get to know you better; now, how about dinner?" Lassiter said with a smile.

"It's ready and so am I," and with that, Shawn leaned in for another kiss.

After dinner, they washed up and headed to bed. As they curled up together, they couldn't believe how comfortable they felt with each other. That night each man had a nightmare free sleep.

The next morning Lassiter woke up to the smell of cooking bacon and eggs. Smiling to himself, he thought, 'I could easily get use to this.' He got up and headed to the kitchen. Again, he found Shawn standing by the stove, and Lassiter couldn't help but think how it seemed like Shawn just belonged there. There in his kitchen, there in his bed like last night and there in his heart and life.

"Hey there, good looking," he said as he walked up behind Shawn and wrapped his arms around him.

"Well, good morning to you, too, sleepy head; eggs, bacon and toast ok with you?"

"Whatever you want to cook up is fine with me. I usual only have a cup of coffee," Lassiter said as he kissed Shawn's neck.

"Well, that will be changing; you can't get by on just coffee. Now you better go and sit down, the food is ready."

Lassiter walked over and sat at the table. Shawn than brought over two plates filled with bacon, eggs and toast. Already sitting on the table was freshly brewed coffee and cold fruit juice.

"You're spoiling me, you know that, Spencer?"

"Yep, and I think you'll need your strength today. The Chief rang earlier; she wants you and me in her office as soon as we get in."

"What...? The Chief rang...? When...? Spencer, what time is it?" Lassiter asked trying to keep his cool.

"About one in the afternoon, but before you say it, the Chief had given you the day off."

"Well, let's eat and then go and see what she wants and, Shawn...?"

"Yes darling?"

"Can we change the dare dates into real dates from now on?" Lassiter said as he felt his ears starting to burn.

"Of course we can and, Carlton, I love you."

"Love you too, Shawn." When Lassiter looked back at his food, he could see that Shawn had cooked his eggs in the shape of a love heart. This made his face go even redder then it already was.

About an hour and a half later, they walked into the Chief's office. She looked at them and indicated to them to sit down. She then went back to reading the file which was in front of her.

"Are you two wondering why I called you in here today?"

"To do some work, no, to play a game, too...!" Shawn said bouncing around a bit. But just then the door behind them opened and closed. Turning around, Shawn found Gus and his dad standing behind them. Worried, he turned back to the Chief. "Ok, what's going on?"

"It is ok, Mr. Spencer. We just want to know what is going on with you two," the Chief replied.

"Well..." Shawn started to speak, but Lassiter stopped him by putting a hand onto Shawn's knee.

"What Spencer was going to say, Chief, is that we have decided to change the dare dates into real dates and I need to make changes to my personnel file." Lassiter was now holding Shawn's hand. "I am also resigning my position as Head Detective, as..."

"What, Lassie you can't..." a shocked Shawn cried.

"It's alright, Mr. Spencer. I know why Detective Lassiter was going to resign, but it is not necessary. Detective Lassiter, as long as your relationship with Shawn doesn't interfere with either of you being able to do your jobs, you can keep your position and keep working together. BUT, the first sign that it has affected your work performance, then, I will separate you. DO, I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!"

"Yes, Chief," both men replied.

"Good. Now, you two," the Chief addressed to Henry and Gus, "can talk to them later... I just wanted to know what was going on between you two. Also, I have given Juliet a week off and hope she will take up the offer of counselling. McNab has woken up and it looks likes he will be off work for at least three months. Is there anything else?"

"No!" everyone in the office said.

"Now this report I have here is from the FBI. It seems that Mrs. Hope was an assassin after all, and the FBI had been chasing her for a while. The book her husband handed over had all of her hits, what she was paid for them and what accounts she used. It also includes who had paid and or hired her. You both have been cleared for the death of Mr. John."

"That's good, Chief. What about Mr. Hope?" Shawn asked

"Mr. Hope, well funny enough, an organisation for the deaf somehow found out about him and they have offered to look after him, including bringing him in when the case against his wife starts."

"So, he is going to be fine?" Shawn asked, giving the Chief a sideway glances.

"Yes, he is. Now, I'm giving you two the rest of today off but I want you back here first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes Chief." And with that, all four men walked out of her office.

"So, Shawn, Lassiter, how would you two like dinner at my place tonight?" Henry asked. "And you too, Gus."

"Dad, really," Shawn asked, eyeing his dad suspiciously. "What do you think, Lassie?"

"Yes sir, it sounds nice, thank you, Mr. Spencer," Lassiter answered.

After Henry and Gus walked away Shawn whispered, "You do know he's going to interrogate us, don't you?"

"I guessed that, Shawn, and you had something to do with Mr. Hope and that organisation, didn't you?" Lassiter said looking at him.

"You'll have to wait and find out, Lassie dear." And with a mischievous smile Shawn kissed him, right there in the middle of the station. He then bolted out the door, with Lassiter right on his heels.

**THE END**

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing **

**Sequel is up and it is called 'Can Murder bring us together?'**


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